She  S.  M.  Itll  ajtbrarg 


Bfdrth  Olaralina  ^tale  Inttipraitg 

--653 


NORTH    I  AROL  INA    ;TA1f 


iiiiiiiiiji  iiiijiii  Hill 
S00487020    L 


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OCT  I 


lUUi/ 


Fifty  Years 
Among  the  Bees 


BY 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER 


Published  by 

THE  A.  I.  ROOT  COMPANY 

Medina,  Ohio 

1911 


Copyrighted  1911 

by   Dr.   C.   C.  Miller,  Marengo.  111. 

All  rights  reserved. 


•S'-t-c/Wy 


PREFACE. 

In  the  year  1886  there  was  published  a  httle  book 
written  by  me  entitled  "A  Year  Among  the  Bees."  In 
1902  it  was  enlarged  and  appeared  under  the  title  "Forty 
Years  Among  the  Bees."  In  preparation  for  the  present 
edition  I  undertook  the  revision  with  little  thought  of 
the  number  of  changes  to  he  made  or  the  number  of 
pages  to  be  added  in  order  to  bring  it  fully  up  to  date 
(about  one-eighth  beine  new  matter),  but  it  is  hoped 
that  the  changes  and  additions  may  make  it  of  more  value 
to  the  reader.  As  I  began  beekeeping  in  1861,  fifty  years 
ago,  the  piesent  name  seems  appropriate. 

However  much  some  personal  friends  may  like  the 
brief  biographical  sketch  that  occupies  the  first  few  pages, 
others  may  think  that  the  space  could  have  been  better 
occupied.  There  remains,  however,  the  privilege  of  skip- 
ping those  few  pages. 

Most  of  the  pictures  are  from  photographs  taken 
by  myself  or  under  my  immediate  supervision,  at  least 
so  far  as  concerns  "touching  the  button"  ;  the  Eastman 
Kodak  Co.  "did  the  rest." 

C.  C.  Miller. 
Marengo,  III,  1911. 


148715 


INTRODUCTION 

One  morning,  five  or  six  of  us,  who  had  occupied 
the  same  bed-room  the  previous  night  diiring  the  Xorth 
American  Convention  at  Cincinnati,  in  ISS"?,  were  dress- 
ing preparatory  to  another  day's  work.  Among  the  rest 
were  Bingham,  of  smoker  fame,  and  A'andervort,  the 
foiuidation-mih  man.  I  think  it  was  Prof.  Cook  who 
w?s  chaffing  these  inventors,  saying  something  to  the 
effect  that  they  were  always  at  work  studying  how  to 
get  up  something  different  from  anybody  else,  and,  if 
they  needed  an  implement,  would  spend  a  dollar  and  a 
day's  time  to  get  up  one  "of  their  own  make,"  rather 
than  pay  25  cents  for  a  better  one  ready-made.  A^ander- 
vort,  who  sat  contemplatively  rubbing  his  shins,  dryly  re- 
plied: "But  they  take  a  world  of  comfort  in  it."  I 
think  all  bee-keepers  are  possessed  of  more  or  less  of 
the  same  spirit.  Their  own  inventions  and  plans  seem 
best  to  them,  and  in  many  cases  they  are  right,  to  the 
extent  that  two  of  them,  having  almost  opposite  plans, 
would  be  losers  to  exchange  plans. 

In  visiting  and  talking  with  other  bee-keepers  I  am 
generally  prejudiced  enough  to  think  my  plans  are,  on 
the  whole,  better  than  theirs  and  yet  I  am  always  very 
much  interested  to  know  just  how  they  manage,  especially 
as  to  the  little  details  of  common  operations,  and  occa- 
sionally I  find  something  so  manifestly  better  than  my 
own  way,  that  I  am  compelled  to  throw  aside  my  preju- 
dice and  adopt  their  better  way.  I  suppose  there  are  a 
good  many  like  myself,  so  I  think  there  may  be  those 
who  will  be  interested  in  these  bee-talks,  wherein,  be- 
sides talking  something  of  the  past,  I  shall  try  to  tell 
honest]"  '--Qt  ho>'-  T  do.  talkino-  in  a  tamiliar  manner, 
without  feeling  obliged  to  say  'Sve"  when  I  mean  "I." 
Indeed  I  shall  claim  the  privilege  of  putting  in  the  pro- 


noun  of  the  first  person  as  often  as  I  please,  and  if  the 
printer  runs  out  of  big  I's  toward  the  last  of  the  book, 
he  can  put  in  little  i's. 

Moreover,  I  don't  mean  to  undertake  to  lay  down  a 
methodical  system  of  bee-keeping,  whereby  one  with  no 
knowledge  of  the  business  can  learn  in  "twelve  short 
lessons"  all  about  it,  but  will  just  talk  about  some  of  the 
things  that  I  think  would  interest  you,  if  we  were  sitting 
down  together  for  a  familiar  chat.  I  take  it  you  are 
familiar  with  the  good  books  and  periodicals  that  we  as 
bee-keepers  are  blest  with,  and  in  some  things,  if  not 
most,  you  are  a  better  bee-keeper  than  I ;  so  you  have 
my  full  permission,  as  you  go  from  page  to  page,  to 
make  such  remarks  as,  "Oh,  how  foolish!"  "I  know  a 
good  deal  better  way  than  that,"  etc.,  but  I  hope  some 
may  find  a  hint  here  and  there  that  may  prove  useful. 

I  have  no  expectation  nor  desire  to  write  a  com- 
plete treatise  on  bee-keeping.  Many  important  matters 
connected  with  the  art  I  do  not  mention  at  all,  because 
they  have  not  come  within  my  own  experience.  Others 
that  have  come  within  my  experience  I  do  not  mention, 
because  I  suppose  the  reader  to  be  already  familiar  with 
them.  I  merely  try  to  talk  about  such  things  as  I  think 
a  brother  bee-keeper  would  be  most  interested  in  if  he 
should  remain  with  me  during  the  year. 


f-i 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES. 


BIOGRAPHICAL BOYHOOD   DAYS. 

Fifty  miles  east  of  Pittsburg  lies  the  little  village  of 
Ligonier,  Pa.,  where  I  was  born  Jmie  10,  1831.  Twenty 
miles  away,  across  the  moimtains,  lies  the  ill-fated  city  of 
Johnstown,  where  my  family  lived  later  on.  The  scenery 
about  Ligonier  is  of  such  a  charming  character  that  in 
recent  years  it  has  become  a  summer  resort,  a  branch 
railroad  terminating  at  that  point.  Looking  down  upon 
the  town  from  the  south  is  a  hill  so  steep  that  one  won- 
ders how  it  is  possible  to  cultivate  it,  while  between  it  and 
the  town  flows  a  little  stream  called  the  Loyalhanna,  with 
a  milldam  upon  whose  broad  bosom  I  spent  many  a  happy 
winter  hour  gliding  over  the  icy  surface  on  the  glittering 
steel ;  and  in  the  hot  anl  lazy  summer  days,  with  trouser- 
legs  rolled  up  to  the  highest,  I  waded  all  abort  the  dam, 
the  bubbles  from  its  oozy  bed  running  up  my  legs  in  a 
creepy  way,  while  I  watched  with  keen  eyes  for  the 
"breathing-hole  of  some  snapping  turtle  hidden  beneath 
the  mud,  then  cautiously  felt  my  way  to  its  tail,  lifted  it 
and  held  it  at  arm's  length  for  fear  of  its  vicious  jaws, 
and  with  no  little  effort  carried  it  snapping  and  strug- 
gling to  the  shore.  Ever  in  sight  was  the  mountain, 
abounding  in  chestnuts,  rattlesnakes,  and  huckleberries, 
and  I  distinctly  recall  how  strange  it  seemed,  when  all 
was  still  about  me,  to  hear  the  roar  of  the  wind  in  the 
tree-tops  on  the  mountain  eight  or  ten  miles  away. 

EARLY    EDUCATION. 

My  earliest  opportunities  for  education  were  not  of 
the  best.     Public  schools  were  not  then  what  they  are 

D.  H.  HILL  LIBRARY 


10  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

to-day,  for  they  were  just  coming  into  existence.  I 
recall  that  we  children,  upon  hearing  of  a  free  school  in 
a  neighboring  village,  decided  that  it  must  be  a  very 
fine  thing,  for  what  else  could  a  free  school  be  than  one 
in  which  the  scholars  were  free  to  whisper  to  their  heart's 
content?  The  teachers,  in  too  many  cases,  seemed  to  be 
chosen  because  of  their  lack  of  fitness  for  any  other 
calling.  The  one  concerning  whom  I  have  perhaps  the 
earliest  recollection  was  a  man  who  distiiigiiishcd  him- 
self by  having  a  large  family  of  boys  named  in  order 
after  the  presidents,  as  far  as  the  United  States  had  at 
that  time  progressed  in  the  matter  of  presidents,  and  who 
extinguished  himself  by  fallir.g  in  a  well  o::e  day  when 
he  was  drunk. 

But  with  the  advent  of  free  schools  came  rapi  1  im- 
provement, and  I  made  fair  progress  in  the  rudiments^ 
even  though  the  advancement  of  each  prpil  w?s  entirely 
independent  of  that  of  every  other.  Indeed,  there  was- 
no  such  thing  as  a  class  in  arithmetic.  Each  one  did  his 
"sums"  on  his  slate,  and  submitted  them  to  the  "master"" 
for  approval,  the  master  doing  such  sums  as  were  beyond 
the  ability  of  the  pupil,  in  some  c?ses  a  m.ore  advanced' 
pupil  doing  this  work  in  phce  of  the  te-^cher.  Tom  Cole- 
was  a  beneficiary  of  mine,  and  everv  time  I  did  a  sum 
for  him  he  gave  me  an  apple.  I  do  not  recall  that  I 
lacked  for  apples,  and  apples  then  ?nd  there  were  worth 
12 1/^  cents  a  bushel. 

PARENTS. 

When  ten  years  old  I  sufifered  a  loss  in  the  dcnth  of 
mv  fpther,  the  greatness  of  which  loss  I  was  at  that  time- 
too  young  fully  to  realize.  He  was  an  elder  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  but  for  one  of  those  days  very  tolerant 
of  the  views  of  others.  He  was  most  lovable  in  charac- 
ter, and  the  wnsh  has  been  with  me  all  through  my  life 
that  I  might  be  as  good  a  man  as  my  father.  I  think 
he  was  chiefly  of  English  extraction,  although  his  ances- 
tors had  for  many  generations  lived  in  this  country.    His- 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


11 


father  had  tried  to  make  a  tailor  of  him,  but  he  did  not 
take  kindly  to  that  business,  and  became  a  physician. 

My  mother  was  German,  her  father  and  mother 
having  both  come  from  the  fatherland.  Like  many  others 
at  that  day,  her  education  never  went  beyond  the  ability 
to  read,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  her  reading  ever  went  out- 
side of  the  Bible.  Possibly  confining  her  reading  to  so 
good  a  book  was  one  reason  why  she  was  a  woman  of 
remarkably  good  judgment,  and  to  her  credit  be  it  said 


Fig.  I — Home  of  the  Author  (from  the  Southzcest). 


that  she  spared  no  pains  to  carry  out  the  dyins:  wish  of 
my  father  that  the  children  should  be  allowed  to  secure 
an  education.  She  was  a  faithful  Methodist,  and  although 
belonging  to  the  two  different  churches,  my  parents 
usually  w^ent  to  church  together,  first  to  one  church  and 
then  to  the  other. 

When  my  mother  married  the  second  time,  she  mar- 
ried a  Alcthodist,  and  as  the  children  came  to  years  of 
discretion  they  were  impartially  divided  between  the  two= 


12  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

■denominations,  three  to  each  ( there  were  six  of  us — my- 
self and  five  sisters). 

Two  years  were  taken  out  of  my  school  life  to.  clerk 
in  a  country  store  three  miles  away.  For  the  first  year 
I  get  twenty-four  dollars  and  board,  my  mother  doing 
Tny  washing.  The  second  year  I  was  advanced  to  fifty 
dollars. 

BEGINS  STUDY  OF  MEDICINE. 

Then  I  undertook  the  study  of  medicine  under  the 
trtelage  of  the  leading — I  am  not  sure  but  he  was  the 
only — village  physician.  The  Latin  terms  met  in  my 
reading  tripped  me  badly,  and  by  some  means  I  got  it 
into  my  head  that  if  I  could  spend  three  months  at  the 
village  academy  I  might  be  so  good  a  Latin  scholar  that 
my  troubles  w^ould  be  overcome.  Dr.  Cummins  was 
very  insistent  that  it  was  vital  for  my  strength  of  charac- 
ter that  having  begun  to  read  medicine  I  should  not  be 
v\'eak  enough  to  be  dissuaded  from  my  purpose  by  a  lit- 
tle thing  like  the  lack  of  Latin,  and  if  I  must  have  the 
Latin  I  could  work  half  time  at  it,  spending  the  other 
half  in  his  office.     Possiblv  he  needed  an  office  bov. 


ATTENDS  ACADEMY. 

But  I  was  equally  insistent  that  I  must  have  one 
uninterrupted  term  at  the  academy,  and  at  it  I  went,  tak- 
ing up  other  studies  as  well  as  Latin.  When  the  term 
■was  completed  I  felt  pretty  certain  that  two  more  terms 
were  needed  to  make  a  complete  scholar  of  me,  and  by  the 
time  I  had  finished  the  two  mere  terms  I  had  settled  into 
tne  determination  that  I  would  not  stop  short  of  a  college 
■course.  A  college  course,  however,  took  money,  little  of 
which  I  had.  At  my  father's  death  it  was  supposed  he 
had  left  a  fair  property,  but  it  was  in  the  hands  of  others, 
and  by  some  means  it  soon  melted  away.  I  kept  on  at 
'the  academy,  making  part  of  my  college  course  there. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  IS" 

ENTERS    COLLEGE. 

While  yet  in  my  teens  I  taught  school  in  Shellsburg, 
and  afterwards  in  Johnstown.  I  entered  Jefferson  Col- 
lege at  Canonsburg,  Pa.,  which  college  was  afterward 
united  with  Washington  College,  and  from  there  went  to 
Union  College,  at  Schenectady,  X.  Y.  This  last  under- 
taking was  a  bit  reckless,  for  when  I  arrived  at  Schenec- 
tady I  had  only  about  thirty  dollars,  with  nothing  to  rely 
on  except  what  I  might  pick  up  by  the  way  to  help  me  to 
finish  up  my  last  two  years  in  college.     I  had  a  horror  of 


Fig    2 — Peahody  Honey-Extractor. 

being  in  debt,  and  so  was  on  the  alert  for  any  work,  no 
matter  what  its  nature,  so  it  was  honest,  by  which  I  could 
earn  something  to  help  carry  me  through. 

WORKS  WAY  THROUGH   COLLEGE. 

I  had  learned  just  enough  of  ornamental  penman- 
ship to  be  able  to  write  German  text,  and  so  i^ot  $-1:4.00 


14  FIFTY  YEARS    A.AIOXG  THE  BEES 

for  filling  the  names  in  88  diplomas  at  the  two  com- 
mencements. I  taught  a  singing  school ;  I  worked  in 
Prof.  Jackson's  garden  at  seven-and-a-half  cents  an  hour; 
raised  a  crop  of  potatoes ;  clerked  at  a  town  election  ; 
peddled  maps  :  rang  one  of  the  college  bells ;  and,  as  it 
was  optional  with  the  students  whether  they  taught  or 
studied  during  the  third  term  senior,  I  got  $100.00  for 
teaching  during  that  term  in  an  academy  at  Delhi,  X.  Y. 
Neither  were  my  studies  slighted  during  my  course, 
Avhich  was  shown  by  my  taking  the  highest  honor  attain- 
able, Phi  Beta  Kappa,  which,  however,  was  equally  taken 
by  a  number  of  my  class. 

I  secured  my  diplon:a,  allowing  me  to  write  A.  B. 
after  my  name,  and  left  college  with  fifty  dollars  more  in 
my  pocket  than  when  I  arrived  there.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, so  much  what  I  e2rned  as  what  I  didn't  spend  that 
helped  me  through.  I  kept  a  strict  cash  account,  and  if 
I  paid  three  cents  postage  on  a  letter  or  one  cent  for  a 
steel  pen  or  two  blocks  of  m.atches,  it  was  carefully  en- 
tered, and  probably  a  good  many  cents  were  saved  be- 
cause I  knew  if  I  spent  them  I  must  put  it  down  in  black 
ink. 

CHE.^.P  BOARD-BILLS. 

The  item  that  gave  me  the  greatest  chance  for  econ- 
omy was  my  board-bill.  I  boarded  myself  all  the  time 
I  was  in  college.  ^ly  board  cost  me  thirty-five  cents  a 
week  or  less  most  of  the  time.  The  use  of  wheat  helped 
to  keep  down  the  bill.  A  bushel  of  w^hole  wdieat  thor- 
oughly boiled  will  do  a  lot  of  filling  up.  The  last  ten 
weeks,  with  less  horror  of  debt  before  me.  I  became  ex- 
travagant, and  my  board  cost  me  sixty-six  and  a  half 
cents  a  week. 

In  the  long  run,  however,  I  paid  dear  enough  for 
my  board,  for  its  quality,  together  with  a  lack  of  exercise, 
so  afifected  my  health  that  I  never  fully  recovered  from 
it.  Strange  to  say,  I  was  so  ignorant  that  I  did  not  know 
exercise  was  essential  to  health.  That  was  before  the 
day  of  athletics  in  college. 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES  15 

STUDY    AND    PRACTICE    OF    MEDICINE. 

After  teaching  a  term  in  Geneseo  (N.  Y.)  Academy, 
I  took  lip  the  study  of  medicine  in  Johnstown,  Pa.,  at- 
tended lectures  in  Michigan  University,  at  Ann  Arbor, 
j\Iich.,  and  received  the  degree  of  "Si.  D.  I  practiced  med- 
icine a  short  time  in  Earlville,  111.,  and  went  to  Marengo, 
111.,  for  the  same  purpose,  in  July,  185(j. 

It  did  not  take  more  than  a  year  for  me  to  find  out 
that  I  had  not  a  sufficient  stock  of  health  myself  to  take 
care  of  that  of  others,  especially  as  I  was  morbidly  anx- 
ious lest  some  lack  of  judgment  on  my  part  should  prove 
a  serious  matter  with  som.e  one  under  my  care.  So  with 
much  regret  I  gave  up  my  chosen  profession. 

TEACHES  AND  TRAVELS. 

In  185T  I  abandoned  a  life  of  single  blessedness,  mar- 
rying Mrs.  Helen  ^i.  White.  I  spent  some  years  in 
teaching  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  and  was  for  sev- 
eral years  principal  of  the  Marengo  public  school.  Before 
devoting  my  entire  time  to  bee-keeping,  I  was  for  one 
year  principal  of  the  Woodstock  school,  most  of  the 
time  driving  there  thirteen  miles  each  morning,  and 
returning  to  Marengo  at  night. 

I  traveled  two  years  for  the  music  house  of  Root 
&  Cady,  making  a  specialty  of  introducing  the  teaching 
of  singing  in  public  schools.  In  1872  I  w^ent  to  Cin- 
cinnati, where  I  spent  six  months  helping  to  get  up  the 
first  of  the  May  musical  festivals  under  the  direction  of 
Theodore  Thomas.  At  the  close  of  the  festival  I  began 
work  for  the  Mason  &  Hamlin  Organ  Co.  at  their  Chi- 
cago horse. 

FIRST  BEES. 

To  go  back.  July  5,  1861 — I  was  in  Chicago  at  the 
time — a.  swarm  of  bees  passing  over  Marengo  took  in 
their  line  of  march  the  house  where  my  w^fe  was.     She 


ifi  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

was  a  woman  of  remarkable  energy  and  executive  ability^ 
generally  accomplishing  whatever  she  undertook,  and 
she  undertook  to  stop  that  swarm.  Whether  the  water 
and  dirt  she  threw  among  them  had  any  effect  on  the 
bees  I  do  not  know,  but  I  know  she  got  the  bees,  hiving 
them  in  a  full-sized  sugar-barrel. 

In  her  eagerness  to  have  the  bees  properly  housed — ■ 
or  barreled — she  could  not  wait  the  slow  motion  of  the 
bees,  but  taking  them  up  by  double  handfuls  she  threw 
them  where  she  wanted  them  to  go.  In  so  doing  she  re- 
ceived five  or  six  stings  on  her  hands,  which  swelled  up 
and  were  so  painful  as  to  make  it  a  sick-a-bed  affair. 
This  was  a  matter  much  to  be  regretted,  for  ever  after  a 
sting  was  much  the  same  as  a  case  of  erysipelas,  prevent- 
ing her  from  having  anything  whatever  to  do  with 
handling  bees  except  in  a  case  of  extremity. 

Previous  to  that  time  I  had  not  been  interested  to  any 
great  extent  in  bees.  When  a  small  boy  I  had  cap- 
tured a  bumble-bees'  nest  and  put  it  in  a  little  box,  but  I 
do  not  recall  that  there  was  a  remarkable  drop  in  the 
price  of  honey  on  account  of  there  being  thrown  upon 
the  market  a  large  amount  of  honey  produced  by  those 
bumble-bees. 

BEE-PALACE. 

When  I  was  a  little  older  I  remember  helping  my 
stepfather  carry  home,  one  night,  a  colony  of  bees  in  a 
box-hive  (movable-comb  hives  were  not  yet  invented)  the 
colony  being  intended  to  stock  a  "bee-palace."  This  bee- 
palace  was  a  rather  imposing  structure.  I  think  it  cost 
ten  dollars.  It  was  large  enough  to  contain  about  four 
colonies  and  was  raised  about  two  feet  high  on  four  legs. 
On  the  top  was  a  hole  over  which  the  box-hive  was 
placed,  with  the  expectation  that  the  bees  would  build 
down  and  occupy  the  entire  space.  The  bottom  was  made 
very  steep,  so  that  wax-worms  falling  upon  it  would, 
however  unwillingly,  be  obliged  to  roll  out !  When  a  nice 
piece  of  honey  was  wanted  for  the  table,  all  that  was  nee- 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


11 


essary  was  to  take  a  plate  and  knife  and  cut  it  out,  a 
<loor  for  that  purpose  being  in  one  side  of  the  palace.  The 
plate  and  knife  were  never  called  into  requisition,  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  of  filling  that  palace  being  so  great 
that  the  bees  concluded  to  die  rather  tli.in  to  undertake  it. 
?\Iany  years  after,  I  saw  at  the  hnne  of  an  intelligent 
farmer  near  Marengo  the  exact  Cwimterpart  of  that  bee- 
palace,  which  an  oily-tongued  vender  had  just  induced 
him  to  purchase. 


Fig.  3 — Jl'idc  Frame. 


Notwithstanding  my  utter  ignorance  of  bees,  I  began 
to  feel  some  immediate  interest  in  the  bees  in  that  barrel. 
I  put  them  in  the  cellar,  and  at  some  time  in  the  v.inter 
I  went  to  a  bee-keeping  neighbor,  James  F.  Lester,  and 
with  no  little  anxiety  told  him  that  some  disease  had 
appeared  among  my  bees,  for  I  found  under  them  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  matter  much  resembling  coarsely 
ground  cofifee.  He  quited  my  fears  by  telling  me  it  was 
all   right,  and  nothing  more  than  the  cappings   that  the 


18  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

bees  had  gnawed  away  to  get  at  the  honey  in  the  sealed 
combs. 

In  the  spring  I  sawed  away  that  portion  of  the  barrel 
not  occnpied  by  the  bees,  and  when  the  time  for  snrplus 
arrived  I  bored  holes  in  the  top  of  the  hive  and  put  a 
good-sized  box  over.  There  were  holes  in  the  bottom 
of  the  box  to  correspond  with  the  holes  in  the  hive.  I 
made  three  box-hives,  after  the  Quinby  pattern,  with  spe- 
cial arrangement  for  surplus  boxes,  and  they  were  well 
nade. 

''taking  up''  bees. 

When  the  bees  swarmed  I  hived  them  in  one  of  the 
new  hives,  and  later  on  "took  up"  the  bees  in  the  barrel. 
Altogether  I  got  93  pounds  of  honey  from  the  barrel,  and 
am  a  little  surprised  to  find  it  set  down  at  12 >^  cents  a 
pound.  Perhaps  butter  was  low  just  then,  for  in  those 
davs  it  was  a  common  thing  for  honey  to  follow  the  price 
of  butter. 

I  left  one  of  the  hives  with  a  farmer,  and  he  hived 
a  prime  swarm  in  it,  for  which  I  paid  him  five  dollars. 
In  the  remaining  hive  I  had  a  weak  sw^arm  hived,  paying 
a  dollar  for  the  swarm.  I  bought  a  colony  of  bees  besides 
these,  paying  $7.00  for  hive  and  bees. 

WINTERING     UPSIDE    DOWN. 

The  bees  were  wintered  in  the  cellar,  and  according 
to  Quinby's  instructions  the  hives  were  turned  upside 
down.  That  gave  ample  ventilation,  for  when  the  hives 
were  reversed  the  entire  upper  surface  w^as  open,  all  being 
closed  below.  I  doubt  that  any  better  means  of  ventila- 
tion could  be  devised  for  wintering  bees  in  the  cellar. 
There  is  abundant  opportunity  for  the  free  entrance  of 
air  into  the  hive,  without  anything  to  force  a  current 
through  it.  Equally  good  is  the  ventilation  when  all  is 
closed  at  the  top  and  the  whole  bottom  is  open,  as  when 
the  hives  without  any  bottom-boards  are  piled  up  in  such 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  19 

manner  that  the  bottom  of  a  hive  rests  upon  the  top  of  a 
hive  below  it  at  one  side,  and  upon  another  hive  at  the 
other  side,  and  the  ventilation  is  perhaps  as  good  when 
there  is  a  bottom-board  so  deep  that  there  is  a  space  of 
two  inches  or  more  under  the  bottom-bars. 


Fig.   4 — Heddon   Super. 
SEASON  OF  1863. 

The  four  colonies  wintered  through,  and  I  find 
charged  to  the  bees'  account  for  1863  three  movable-frame 
hives  at  $2.00  each,  three  box-hives  at  $1.00  for  the 
three,  and  some  surplus  boxes  at  10  to  20  cents  each. 
These  surplus  boxes  held  from  6  to  10  pounds  each,  some 
of  them  having  glass  on  two  sides,  and  some  having  glass 


20  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

on  four  sides.  Small  pieces  of  comb  were  fastened  in 
the  top  of  each  box  as  starters.  I  also  bought  another 
colony  of  bees  at  $7.00,  and  I  bought  Quinby's  text-book, 
"Mysteries  of  Bee-Keeping  Explained."  I  think  I  had 
previously  read  this  as  a  borrowed  book.  I  got  82 
pounds  of  honey,  worth  15  cents  a  pound. 

I  began  the  year  1864  with  seven  colonies,  which  had 
cost  me  $23.39  ;  that  is,  up  to  that  time  I  had  paid  out 
$23.39  more  for  the  bees  than  I  had  taken  in  from  them, 
reckoning  interest  at  ten  per  cent,  the  ruling  rate  at  that 
time.  Besides  getting  new  hives  that  year,  I  bought  a 
colony  of  bees  for  $5.00,  and  twenty  empty  combs  at 
15  cents  each.  I  took  54  pounds  of  honey,  39  pounds  of 
it  being  entered  at  30  cents,  the  balance  at  25  cents. 

The  year  1865  opened  with  nine  colonies,  and  the 
total  crop  for  the  season  was  10  pounds  of  honey.  Alas ! 
that  it  was  so  small,  for  that  year  it  was  worth  35  cents 
a  pound. 

FIRST  ITALIANS. 

In  1866  I  got  my  first  Italian  queen,  paying  R.  R. 
Murphy  $6.00  for  her,  and  the  following  year  I  paid 
$10.00  for  another  to  ]\Irs.  Ellen  S.  Tupper,  who  was  at 
one  time  editor  of  a  bee-journal.  The  crop  for  1866  was 
100^  pounds  of  honey,  which  that  year  was  worth  30 
cents. 

GETTING  EVEN. 

I  took  131  pounds  of  honey  in  186T,  worth  25  cents 
a  pound,  and  this  for  the  first  time  brought  the  balance 
on  the  right  side  of  the  ledger,  for  I  began  the  season 
of  1868  with  seven  colonies  and  had  $10.40  ahead  besides. 
It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  bad  wintering  had  been 
getting  in  its  work,  for  there  were  two  colonies  less  than 
there  were  three  years  before. 

There  was  certainly  nothing  brilliant  in  being  able 
after  seven  years  of  bee-keeping  to  be  able  to  count  only 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  21 

two  colonies  more  than  the  total  number  I  had  started 
with,  together  with  the  four  I  had  bought.  But  there 
was  a  fascination  in  bee-keeping  for  me,  and  it  is  very 
likely  I  should  have  kept  right  on,  even  if  it  necessitated 
buying  a  fresh  start  each  year.  At  any  rate,  my  friends 
could  no  longer  accuse  me  of  squandering  m.oney  on  my 


Fig.   j—T   Super. 

bees,  for  there  was  that  $10.40,  and  the  time  I  had  spent 
with  the  bees  w^as  just  as  well  spent  in  that  way  as  in 
some  other  form  of  amusement.  Indeed,  at  that  time 
I  am  not  sure  that  I  had  m.uch  thought  that  I  was  ever 
to  get  any  profit  out  of  the  business.  Certainly  I  had 
no  thought  that  it  wo'dd  ever  become  a  vocation  instead 
of  an  avocatio-"". 


22  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

GETS    AMERICAN    BEE    JOURNAL. 

In  1869,  while  away  from  home,  I  came  across  a 
copy  of  the  American  Bee  Journal.  I  subscribed  for  it, 
and  also  obtained  the  first  volume  of  the  same  journal. 
That  first  volume,  containing  the  series  of  articles  by  the 
Baron  of  Berlepsch  on  the  Dzierzon  theory,  has  been  of 
more  service  to  me  than  any  other  volume  of  any  bee- 
journal  published,  and  to  this  day  I  probably  refer  to  it 
oftener  than  to  any  other  volume  that  is  as  much  as  two 
or  three  years  old. 

Among  the  most  frequent  contributors  to  the  Ameri- 
can Bee  Journal  when  I  subscribed  for  it  were  H.  Alley, 
D.  H.  Coggshall,  C.  Dadant,  E.  Gallup,  A.  Grimm,  J.  L. 
Hubbard,  J.  M.  Marvin,  M.  Quinby,  A.  I.  Root,  J.  H. 
Thomas,  and  J.  F.  Tillinghast,  most  of  which  are  well 
known  names  a  third  of  a  century  later.  G.  M.  Doolittle 
did  not  appear  on  the  scene  till  late  in  1870. 

A.  I.  Root,  under  the  noni  de  plume  of  Novice,  was 
then  just  as  full  of  schemes  as  he  has  been  since,  and 
was  trying  a  hot-bed  arrangement  for  bees,  and  in  my 
first  communication  to  the  American  Bee  Journal,  in 
1870,  I  wrote,  'T  am  waiting  patiently  for  Novice  to  in- 
vent a  machine  for  making  straight  worker-comb  ;  for  as 
yet  I  have  found  no  way  of  securing  all  worker-comb, 
except  to  have  it  built  by  a  weak  colony."  At  that  time 
he  probably  little  thought  that  he  would  come  so  near 
fulfilling  my  expectations,  sending  out  tons  upon  tons  of 
foundation. 

ATTEMPT  AT  COMB  FOUNDATION. 

I  made  some  attempts  myself  in  that  line,  simply 
with  plain  sheets  of  wax.  I  poured  a  little  melted  wax 
into  a  pail  of  hot  water,  and  when  it  cooled  I  took  the 
sheet  of  wax  and  gave  it  to  the  bees.  It  was  not  an 
immense  success.  I  dipped  a  piece  of  writing  paper  into 
melted  wax,  and  gave  to  the  bees  in  an  upper  corner  of  a 
frame  where  no  brood  was   reared,   and   for  vears   vou 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  23 

could  hold  that  frame  up  to  the  light  and  looking  through 
the  comb  see  the  writing  that  was  on  the  paper.  Then 
when  foundation  came  upon  the  market,  what  a  boon 
it  was ! 

VISITS   A.    I.    ROOT. 

In  1870  I  made  my  first  visit  to  ^Medina,  then  several 
miles  from  a  railroad  station.  ]\Ir.  Root  was  then  a  jew- 
eler :  his  shop  had  been  burned  up,  and  his  house  (not  a 
large  one  at  that  time)  was  doing  duty  as  both  shop  and 
dwelling.  Just  then  he  was  full  of  the  idea  of  having 
maple  sap  run  directly  from  the  trees  to  the  hives.  I 
showed  him  how  to  use  rotten  wobd  for  smoking  bees, 
and  he  thought  it  a  great  improvement  over  the^  plan  he 
had  been  using.  I  do  not  now  remember  what  his  plan, 
had  been,  but  hardly  a  tobacco-pipe,  for  I  have  heard  that 
he  has  some  objections  to  the  use  of  tobacco.  Pleased 
with  his  newly  acquired  accomplishment,  I  had  hardly 
left  town  when  he  tried  its  use,  and  succeeded  in  setting 
fire  to  a  hive  by  means  of  the  sawdust  on  the  ground. 
\Mi ether  it  was  burned  up  or  merely  put  in  jeopardy  I 
do  not  now  remember.  He  did  not  send  me  the  bill 
for  it. 

At  that  time  he  knew  nothing  of  a  bee-smoker,  and 
neither  of  us  then  thought  that  in  the  next  third  of  a 
century  he  would  send  out  into  the  world  three  hundred 
thousand  of  them. 

ADOPTS  18x9  FRAME. 

In  1870  I  made  a  change  in  hives.  I  cannot  now  tell. 
the  size  of  frames  I  had  been  using,  but  I  think  the  frames 
were  considerably  deeper  than  the  regular  Langstroth. 
I  say  ''the  regular  Langstroth,"  for  in  reality  all  movable 
frames  are  Langstroths,  but  the  regular  size  is  I79/8  x  9^. 
J.  \"andervort,  a  man  well  known  among  the  older  bee- 
keepers as  a  manufacturer  of  foundation-mills,  had  at 
that   time   a   machine   shop   in   ]\Iarengo,   and   upon   his 


24  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

moving  away  in  1870  I  bought  out  his  stock  of  hives. 
The  frames  were  18x9,  ^  of  an  inch  longer  than  the 
standard  size,  and  %  of  an  inch  shallower. 

CHANGE   TO   REGULAR   LANGSTROTH. 

So  little  a  difference  in  measurement  could  make  no 
appreciable  difference  in  practical  results,  yet  after  going 
on  until  I  had  three  or  four  thousand  of  such  frames,  the 
inconvenience  of  having  an  odd  size  was  felt  to  be  so 
great  that  I  felt  I  must  change  so  as  to  be  in  line  with 
the  rest  of  the  world,  and  be  able  to  order  hives,  frames, 
etc.,  such  as  were  on  the  regular  list  without  being 
obliged  to  have  everything  made  to  order.  The  change  to 
the  regular  size  cost  a  good  deal  of  money,  and  a  good 
deal  more  in  labor  and  trouble,  extending  over  several 
years. 

PEABODY  EXTRACTOR. 

In  that  same  year,  1870,  I  got  a  honey-extractor. 
With  much  interest  I  made  my  first  attempt  at  extracting, 
the  supreme  moment  of  interest  coming  when  after  hav- 
ing given  perhaps  200  revolutions  to  the  extractor  I 
looked  beneath  to  see  how  much  honey  had  run  into  the 
pan  beneath.  Very  vividly  I  remember  my  keen  chagrin 
and  disappointment  when  I  found  that  not  a  drop  of 
honey  had  fallen.  The  machine  was  one  of  the  first  put 
on  the  market,  a  Peabody  extractor  (Fig.  2),  the  entire 
can  revolving,  and  it  had  not  occurred  to  me  that  the 
same  force  that  threw  the  honey  out  of  the  comb  would 
.keep  it  against  the  outer  wall  of  the  can  so  long  as  it  kept 
in  motion.  When  the  can  stopped  revolving,  a  fair  stream 
of  honey  ran  down  into  the  pan,  and  I  resumed  my  normal 
manner  of  breathing. 

TOO  RAPID  INCREASE. 

I  began  the  season  of  1870  with  eight  colonies,  in- 
creased to  11),  and  extracted  about  400  pounds  of  honey. 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES  25 

This  warmed  up  my  zeal  considerably.  In  the  winter  I 
lost  three  colonies,  so  I  commenced  the  season  of  1871 
with  16  colonies,  took  408  pounds  of  honey,  and,  the  sea- 
son being  favorable,  I  increased  without  much  difficulty 
until  I  reached  thirty  or  forty,  and  I  thought  it  would 
be  a  nice  thing  to  have  an  even  fifty,  so  I  reached  about 
that  number,  for  so  manv  of  them  were  weak,  that  I  am 


Fig.    6 — Heddon    Slat   Honey-Board. 

not  sure  exactly  how  many  it  would  be  fair  to  call  them. 
I  fed  them  some  quite  late,  too  late  for  them  to  seal 
over,  and  they  were  put  into  the  cellar  with  little  anxiety 
as  to  the  result. 


DISASTROUS    WINTERING. 

In  the  winter  they  became  quite  uneasy,  and  Feb- 
ruary 11  I  took  out  five  colonies,  which  flew  a  little,  and 
then  I  put  them  back.  They  continued  to  become  more 
uneasy  and  to  be  affected  with  diarrhoea,  and,  February 
22,   I   took   them   all   out   and   found   only   twenty-three 


26 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


alive.  They  flew  a  little,  but  it  was  not  warm  enough 
for  a  good  cleansing  flight ;  and  soon  after  there  came 
a  cold  storm  with  snow  a  foot  deep,  and  by  April  1  I  had 
only  three  colonies  living,  two  of  which  I  united,  making 
a  total  of  tivo  left  from  the  forty-five  or  fifty. 

It  was  some  comfort  to  know  that  nearly  everyone 
lost  heavily  that  winter,  but  what  encouragement  was 
there  to  continue  under  such  adverse  circumstances?  I 
was  on  the  road  traveling  for  Root  &  Cady  all  the  time, 
with  onlv  an  occasional  visit  to  mv  bees,  and  no  cer- 


Fig.  7 — Tzi'o  carrying  zvith  Rope. 

tainty  of  being  there  upon  any  particular  date,  and  evi- 
dently with  no  great  knowledge  of  the  business  if  I  had 
been  home  all  the  time.  To  be  sure,  I  may  have  got 
enough  money  so  as  to  feel  that  there  was  no  particular 
money  loss,  but  after  eleven  years  at  bee-keeping,  and 
after  having  bought,  first  and  last,  quite  a  number  of  col- 
onies, here  I  was  with  only  two  colonies  to  show  for 
all  my  efforts ! 

I  do  not  remember,  however,  that  any  question  as 
to  continuance  occurred  to  me  at  that  time.     Perhaps  I 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES  27 

didn't  know  enough  to  be  discouraged.  Instead  of  sell- 
ing off  the  two  colonies  and  going  out  of  the  business, 
I  bought  live  more  colonies  early  in  April.  They  were 
in  box-hives,  and  one  of  them  died  before  the  season 
warmed  up.  so  I  began  the  season  of  1872  with  six  colo- 
nies. These  I  increased  to  nineteen,  and  I  think  I  took 
no  honey.  With  the  number  of  empty  combs  I  had  on 
hand,  there  was  nothing  to  exult  over  in  this  increase, 
especially  as  the  colonies  were  not  in  the  best  condition  as 
to  strength. 

WINTER   IX    CINCINNATI. 

The  thousands  who  have  been  charmed  by  the  de- 
lightful music  rendered  under  the  guidance  of  the  baton 
of  that  prince  of  conductors,  Theodore  Thomas,  at  the 
May  Musical  Festivals  held  in  successive  years  in  Cin- 
cinnati, will  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  that  a 
congenial,  although  somewhat  arduous,  occupation  was 
aft'orded  me  when  the  managers  oft'ered  me  the  posi- 
tion of  "official  agent,"  charged  with  doing  the  thousand 
and  one  things  needing  to  be  done  to  carry  out  their 
wishes  in  preparing  for  the  first  of  these  festivals.  I 
began  this  work  in  1872,  some  six  months  in  advance 
of  the  time  for  the  Festival,  making  my  abode  in  Cin- 
cinnati, although  I  still  called  Marengo  my  home.  In 
the  winter  I  went  back  home,  put  the  bees  in  the  cellar 
December  7,  and  then  locking  up  cellar  and  house  for 
the  winter  I  took  my  wife  and  child  to  Cincinnati,  from 
which  place  we  did  not  return  till  late  the  following  May. 

The  bees  were  left  entirely  to  their  own  devices 
throughout  the  winter.  In  the  latter  part  of  ]^Iarch  the 
weather  at  Cincinnati  became  quite  warm,  and  I  wrote 
to  my  bee-keeping  friend,  Mr.  Lester,  to  get  him  to  take 
the  bees  out  of  the  cellar.  He  took  them  out  under  pro- 
test, for  Cincinnati  weather  and  ^Marengo  weather  are 
two  different  things,  and  when  they  were  taken  out, 
]\Iarch  31,  they  were  probably  ushered  into  a  rather  cold 
world.     Thev  were  in  bad  condition  when  taken  out — 


28  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

"bees  do  not  always  winter  in  a  cellar  in  the  best  possible 
manner  with  their  owner  several  hundred  miles  away — 
and  when  I  got  home  in  May  I  found  only  three  of  the 
nineteen  left  alive. 

THREE  YEARS  IN  CHICAGO. 

Immediately  upon  the  close  of  the  Cincinnati  Festi- 
val I  began  work  for  the  Mason  &  Hamlin  Organ  Co., 
at  their  Chicago  office,  where  I  staid  three  years.  My 
wife  and  little  boy  staid  on  the  farm  at  Marengo  during 
the  summer,  and  spent  the  winters  with  me  in  Chicago. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  I  could  have  only  a  few 
days  with  the  bees  each  summer,  I  still  clung  to  them. 
At  least  I  could  lie  awake  nights  dreaming  and  plan- 
ning as  to  what  might  be  done  with  bees,  and  I  could 
do  that  just  as  well  in  Chicago  as  Marengo. 

One  good  thing  that  resulted  from  that  three  years' 
sojourn  in  Chicago  was  an  appreciation  of  country  life 
that  I  had  never  had  before.  The  office,  80  &  82  Adams 
street,  was  in  the  heart  of  the  burnt  district  left  bare 
by  the  great  fire  of  1871,  and  to  one  with  a  love  for  every- 
thing green  that  grows  it  was  desolate  indeed.  A  few 
weeds  that  grew  in  a  vacant  lot  hard  by  were  a  source 
of  pleasure  to  me  ;  but  my  chief  delight  was  to  stand 
and  admire  a  bunch  of  white  clover  that  grew  near  Clark 
street.  I  think  all  my  years  of  country  life  since  have 
been  the  brighter  for  the  dismal  months  spent  in  that 
l)rrnt  district  of  the  great  city. 

The  three  colonies  that  were  left  in  the  spring  of 
1873  were  increased  to  eight  in  fair  condition,  and  I 
took  perhaps  60  pounds  of  honey.  These  eight  were  put 
into  the  cellar  Nov.  10.  and  December  10  Mrs.  Miller 
gave  the  cellar  a  good  airing  by  opening  the  inside  cellar 
door  so  as  to  communicate  with  the  upstairs  rooms,  and 
then  she  closed  up  the  house  to  go  into  the  city  to  spend 
the  winter  with  me. 

March  30,  1874,  I  went  out  and  took  them  out  of 
winter  quarters,  and  was  delighted  to  find  them  in  superb 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  29' 

condition,  the  whole  eight  ahve,  and  hardly  a  teacupful 
of  dead  bees  in  all.  These  eight  I  increased  to  22,  taking 
390  pounds  of  honey.  ( )f  course  they  v.ere  increased 
artificially. 

I  attributed  the  previous  winter's  success  partly  to 
their  having  been  taken  in  earlier  than  ever  before,  so  I 
decided  to  take  them  in  still  earlier,  and  went  out  for 
that  purpose  Oct.  29.  But  the  bees  decided  they  would 
not  be  taken  in,  and  whenever  I  attempted  to  take  them  in 
they  boiled  out.  So,  just  as  I  had  done  a  good  many 
times  before,  I  had  to  give  up  and  let  them  have  their 
own  way,  leaving  I\Irs.  ^Miller  to  get  them  when  the 
weather  was  cool  enough  for  tJicin. 

November  19  they  had  a  good  flight,  and  Xovember 
20  they  were  taken  in  by  Mr.  Phillips,  a  farmer  with 
the  average  knowledge — or  perhaps  the  average  ignorance 
— of  bees,  aided  by  '']eff/'  Mrs.  ^Miller's  factotum,  one 
of  the  liveliest  specimens  of  the  African  race  that  ever 
jumped,  with  considerable  more  than  the  average  fear  of 
bees.  December  12  my  wife  gave  the  cellar  a  good  airing, 
and  then  it  was  closed  up  for  the  winter. 

The  winter  of  187T-5  was  one  of  remarkable  sever- 
ity, and  I  felt  some  anxiety  about  the  bees.  The  last  of 
February  my  wife  went  out  and  warmed  up  the  house 
and  cellar,  finding  the  bees  somewhat  uneasy,  but  after 
being  warmed  up  and  aired  they  became  quiet.  Then 
the  house  was  again  closed  up,  and  they  were  left  till 
April  6,  when  the  men  took  them  out. 

ITALIANS    FROM    ADAM    GRIMM. 

Three  of  the  twenty-two  had  died,  leaving  nineteen 
to  begin  the  season  of  18T5.  ^lay  10  two  colonies  were 
received  from  Adam  Grimm,  for  which  I  paid  thirteen 
dollars  per  colony  for  the  sake  of  getting  Italians  to 
improve  my  stock,  for  notwithstanding  the  several  Ital- 
ian queens  I  had  got,  some  of  my  bees  were  almost  black. 
May  27  I  made  my  first  visit,  and  I  did  not  find  the 
colonies  very  strong.     Two  colonies  had  died  of  queen- 


30  FIFTY  YEARS    A.AIONG  THE  BEES 

lessness,  so  that  with  the  two  Grimm  colonies  I  had  still 
only  nineteen. 

June  25  I  visited  Alarengo  again,  and  was  surprised 
to  find  very  little  gain  in  the  strength  of  the  colonies. 
1  he  season  had  been  extremely  unpropitious.  July  T  I 
made  another  visit,  of  three  days,  and  found  scarcely  any 
honey  in  the  hives.  I  made  a  few  new  colonies,  and  by 
giving  empty  combs  and  plenty  of  room  I  left  them  feel- 
ing that  there  was  little  fear  of  any  swarming  for  that 
season. 

TROUBLE    WITH    SWARMING. 

But  a  sudden  change  must  have  come  over  the  bees 
and  the  season,  and  the  bees  must  have  built  up  with 
great  rapidity,  for  letters  kept  coming  to  me  saying  that 
the  bees  had  swarmed,  and  Mrs.  Miller  was  kept  busy 
superintending  the  hiving,  "Jefif"  doing  the  work.  It 
was  a  mixed-up  business  for  them,  for  I  had  left  the 
queens  clipped,  and  swarms  would  issue  only  to  return 
again,  and  then  in  a  few  days  there  would  be  after- 
swarms,  and  they  didn't  know  which  swarms  wxre  likely 
to  have  young  queens,  and  which  clipped  queens.  Some 
swarms  probably  got  away,  but  in  the  round  up  when 
I  went  out  again,  August  10,  I  found  the  whole  number 
of  colonies  had  reached  40,  there  having  been  an  increase 
of  12  by  natural  swarming  in  addition  to  the  nine  colonies 
I  had  formed  artificially. 

BACK   TO    COUNTRY   LIFE. 

Clearly,  keeping  bees  at  long  range  was  a  very  unsat- 
isfactory business.  City  life  was  also  unsatisfactory ;  a 
traveling  life  was  worse.  So  in  spite  of  the  reduced 
chance  of  making  money,  I  decided  for  a  life  in  the 
country,  turned  my  back  upon  an  offer  of  $2,500  and 
expenses,  and  engaged  to  teach  school  at  $1,200  and 
bear  my  own  expenses  ;  all  because  I  wanted  to  be  in  the 
country  and  have  a  chance  to  be  with  the  bees  all  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


31 


time.  I  have  never  regretted  the  choice.  If  I  had  kept 
on  at  other  business,  I  would  no  doubt  have  made  more 
money,  -but  I  would  not  have  had  so  good  a  time,  and  I 
doubt  if  I  would  be  alive  now.  It's  something  to  be  alive, 
and  it's  a  good  deal  more  to  have  a  happy  life. 


^  Fig.  8 — Carrying  zvith  Rop 


I  did  not,  however,  get  away  from  the  city  till 
August  12,  1876,  but  that  was  early  enough  to  see  that 
all  colonies  were  well  prepared  for  winter,  and  to  be 
sure  of  being  with  them  through  the  winter. 

Six  of  the  forty  colonies  were  lost  in  the  preceding 
winter,  and  the  remaining  34  had  given  1,600  pounds  of 
honey,  mostly  extracted,  and  had  been  increased  to  99. 


32  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

IMPROVED    WIXTERIXG. 

The  advantage  of  being  at  home  through  the  winter 
was  apparent,  for  in  the  next  four  winters  the  average 
loss  was  only  2  per  cent,  while  for  the  preceding  four 
winters  it  had  been  nine  times  as  great.  A  new  factor, 
however,  had  come  in,  to  which  part  of  the  change  was 
to  be  attributed.  There  was  chance  enough  to  ventilate 
the  cellar,  for  two  chimneys  ran  from  the  ground  up 
through  the  house,  a  stove-pipe  hole  opening  from  the 
cellar  into  each.  But  the  only  way  to  warm  the  cellar 
was  by  keeping  fire  in  the  rooms  overhead,  and  by  open- 
ing the  inside  cellar-door.  One  day  when  I  came  home 
from  school — I  think  it  was  in  December,  18T6 — I  found 
my  wife  had  decided  to  hurry  up  the  matter  of  warming 
the  cellar,  and  had  a  small  stove  set  up,  and  throughout 
the  winter  there  was  fire  there  a  good  part  of  the  time. 

FIRST    SECTIOX    HOXEY. 

In  1877  I  gave  up  extracted  honey,  the  introduction 
of  sections  having  made  such  a  revolution  that  it  seemed 
better  to  go  back  to  comb  honey.  The  sections  of  that 
day  were  crude  compared  with  the  finished  affairs  of 
the  present  day.  One-piece  sections  were  then  unknown, 
four-piece  sections  being  the  only  ones,  and  there  was 
not  a  remarkably  accurate  adjustment  of  the  dove  tailed 
parts,  so  that  no  little  force  was  required  to  put  the  sec- 
tions together.  When  a  tenon  and  mortise  did  not  cor- 
respond, pounding  with  a  mallet  would  make  the  tenon 
smash  its  way  through. 

In  order  to  fasten  the  foundation  in  the  section,  the 
top  piece  of  the  section  had  a  saw-kerf  going  half  way 
through  the  wood  on  the  under  side.  The  top  was  partly 
split  apart,  the  edge  of  the  foundation  inserted,  then  the 
wood  was  straightened  back  to  place.  I  was  not  well 
satisfied  with  my  success  in  fastening  in  the  foundation, 
and  in  1878  wrote  to  A.  I.  Root  for  a  better  plan,  describ- 
ing minutely  the  plan  I  had  been  using,  giving  a  pencil 
sketch  of  the  board  I  used  on  my  lap,  with  the  different 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMOXG  THE  BEES  33 

parts  upon  it.  In  June  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  my  let- 
ter appeared  in  full,  pencil  sketch  and  all,  and  he  sent  me 
a  round  sum  in  payment  for  the  letter,  but  no  word  of 
instruction  as  to  any  better  way !  I  hardly  knew  whether 
to  be  glad  or  mad. 

WIDE  FRAMES. 

The  sections  were  put  in  wide  frames,  double-tier, 
making  a  frame  hold  eight  sections  (Fig.  3).  I  had  an 
arrangement  by  which  the  sections,  after  having  been 
lightly  started  together,  were  all  punched  into  the  frame 
at  one  stroke,  driving  them  together  at  the  same  time, 
and  another  arrangement  punched  them  out  after  they 
were  filled  with  honey.  The  super  in  which  they  were 
put  was  the  same  in  size  as  the  10-frame  brood-cham- 
ber— in  fact  there  was  no  difference  whatever  in  the  two 
except  that  the  bottom-board  was  nailed  onto  the  brood- 
chamber  and  an  entrance  cut  into  it.  The  super  held 
seven  frames,  and  that  made  56  sections  in  a  super. 
Lifting  these  supers  when  they  were  filled  was  no  child's 
play,  especially  when  loading  them  on  the  wagon  at  an 
out-apiary,  and  unloading  them  at  home,  as  I  had  to 
do  in  later  years. 

BROOD-COMBS    AS    BAITS. 

In  order  to  start  the  bees  promptly  to  work  in  the 
sections,  a  frame  of  brood  was  raised  from  below,  and 
the  sections  facing  this  brood  were  occupied  by  the  bees 
at  once  if  honey  was  coming  in.  Care  had  to  be  taken 
not  to  leave  the  brood  too  long,  for  if  the  bees  commenced 
to  seal  the  sections  while  it  was  there  they  would  be 
capped  very  dark,  the  bees  carrying  some  of  the  old, 
black  comb  over  to  the  sections  to  be  used  in  the  capping. 

BEE-KEEPING    SOLE    BUSINESS. 

In  1878,  at  the  close  of  the  school  year  in  June,  1 
decided  to  give  up  teaching  for  a  time,  and  since  that 


34 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


time  I  have  had  no  other  business  but  to  work  with  bees, 
unless  it  be  to  write  about  them. 

In  1880  I  began  out-apiaries  in  a  tentative  sort  of 
way.  a  few  bees  in  two  out-apiaries.  In  ]\Iarch  of  that 
year  my  wife  died.  WTien  the  bees  were  got  into  the 
cellar  for  winter  I  closed  up  the  house,  took  my  boy  with 


Pig'  9 — Philo  Carrying  a  Hive. 


me,  and  went  to  Johnstown,  Pa.,  to  spend  the  winter  with 
my  sister,  ]\Irs.  Emma  R.  Jones.  When  I  returned  near 
the  close  of  the  following  April,  deep  snow-banks  still 
surrounded  the  house,  and  matters  were  in  anything  but 
a  happy  condition  in  the  cellar. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  33 

DISCOURAGEMENT. 

When  the  bees  were  ready  to  begin  iipon  the  harvest 
of  1881,  there  were  67  colonies  left  out  of  the  162  that 
had  been  put  in  the  cellar  the  previous  fall.  A  loss  of 
59  per  cent  was  additional  proof  that  it  is  better  for  the 
bees  and  their  owner  to  spend  the  winter  in  the  same 
State. 

ENCOURAGEMENT. 

Beginning  1881  with  6T  colonies,  I  took  7,884:  pounds 
of  comb  honey,  and  increased  to  177  colonies.  An  aver- 
age of  117-2/3  pounds  of  comb  honey  per  colony,  and  an 
increase  of  16T  per  cent  would  be  nothing  so  very  re- 
markable in  some  localities,  but  I  consider  it  so  in  a 
place  where  there  is  no  basswood,  buckwheat,  nor  any- 
thing else  to  depend  upon  for  a  crop  except  white  clover. 
Certainly  it  is  not  the  usual  thing  here,  but  remember 
there  were  only  67  colonies,  and  if  I  were  again  reduced 
to  67  colonies  I  think  I  might  do  a  shade  better  now. 

AVERAGE    YIELD  DEPENDS    MUCH    UPON    NUMBERS. 

In  general,  I  suspect  that  the  number  of  colonies  in 
a  place  is  not  sufficiently  taken  into  account.  I  remember 
at  one  time  A.  I.  Root  commenting  upon  the  case  of  a 
beginner  with  a  very  few  colonies  making  a  fine  record, 
and  he  thought  it  was  because  of  the  great  enthusiasm 
of  the  bee-keeper  as  a  beginner.  I  think  instead  of 
unusual  enthusiasm  it  was  unusual  opportunities  for  the 
bees.  I  can  easily  imagine  a  place  where  five  colonies 
might  store  continuously  for  five  months,  and  where 
a  hundred  colonies  on  the  same  ground  might  not  store 
three  weeks.  There  might  be  flowers  yielding  contin- 
uously throughout  the  entire  season,  but  so  small  in 
quantity  that  although  they  might  keep  a  very  few  colo- 
nies storing  right  along,  they  would  not  yield  enough 
for   the    daily    consumption   of   more   than   ten   to   fifty 


36 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


colonies.  Rememher  that  the  surpkis  is  the  smaller  part 
of  the  honey  gathered  by  the  bees.  Adrian  Getaz  com- 
putes that  at  least  200  pounds  of  honey  is  needed  for 
home  consumption  by  an  average  colony.  So  far  as  en- 
thusiasm and  interest  are  concerned,  I  do  not  believe 
my  stock  is  any  less  of  those  commodities  than  it  was 
fifty  years  ago.  A  born  bee-keeper  never  loses  his  enthu- 
siasm. 


Fig.   10 — Colonies  Intended  for  Out-Apiaries. 


TOTAL    CROP    RATHER    THAN    PER    COLOXY. 

Some  one  may  possibly  ask.  "If  you  can  do  so  much 
better  with  67  colonies,  why  not  restrict  yourself  to  that 
number?"  But  I  can't  do  any  better;  at  least  not  in  an 
average  season.  For  it  is  not  the  yield  per  colony  I 
care  for,  unless  it  should  be  to  boast  over  it ;  what  I 
care  for  is  the  total  amount  of  net  money  I  can  get  from 
bees.  In  the  year  1897  my  average  per  colony  was  71^ 
pounds,  only  about  three-fifths  as  much  as  in  1881.  but 
as  I  had  in  1897  239  colonies,  my  total  crop  was  17.150 
pounds,  or  more  than  twice  as  much  as  in  1881. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  37 

A    BAD   YEAR. 

Ill  the  year  18ST  my  crop  of  honey  was  a  little  more 
than  half  a  pound  per  colony,  and  in  the  fall  I  fed  2802 
pounds  of  granulated  sugar  to  keep  the  bees  from  starv- 
ing in  winter.  But  I  could  not  then  tell,  neither  can  I 
now  tell  whether  it  was  because  the  season  was  so  bad  or 
because  the  field  was  over-stocked,  for  I  had  363  colonies 
in  four  apiaries.  Possibly  if  I  had  had  only  half  as 
many  bees,  the  balance  might  have  been  on  the  other 
side  of  the  ledger.     But  I  don't  know. 

Somewdiere  there  surely  is  a  limit  beyond  which  one 
cannot  profitably  increase  the  number  of  colonies  in  an 
apiary,  but  just  wdiere  that  limit  is  can  perhaps  never 
be  learned.  If  I  were  obliged  to  make  a  guess,  I  should 
say  about  100  colonies  in  one  apiary  is  the  limit  in  my 
locality. 

If  I  were  to  live  my  life  over  again,  and  knew  in 
advance  that  I  should  be  a  bee-keeper,  I  never  would 
locate  in  a  place  with  only  one  source  of  surplus.  When 
white  clover  fails  here  the  bottom  drops  out.  Unfortu- 
nately the  years  in  which  the  bottom  drops  out  have  been 
unpleasantly  frequent. 

In  the  fall  of  1881  I  married  Miss  Sidney  Jane  Wil- 
son, who  was  born  on  the  \\'ilson  farm  w^here  one  of  my 
out-apiaries  was  for  years  located.  There  was  some 
economy  in  the  arrangement,  for  she  could  go  out  to  the 
out-apiary  for  a  day's  work,  and  visit  her  old  home  at  the 
same  time. 

A   GOOD  YEAR. 

Of  the  ITT  colonies  with  which  the  year  1881  closed, 
two  died  in  wintering,  and  I  sold  one  in  the  spring. 
That  left  1T4  for  the  season  of  1882,  and  these  gave  me 
16,549  pounds  of  honey,  nearly  all  in  sections.  That 
was  95  pounds  per  colony,  and  the  increase  was  only 
16  per  cent.  Quite  a  falling  ofif  from  the  amount  per 
colony  of  the  previous  year.  But  the  additional  nine 
thousand  pounds  in  the  total  crop  reconciled  me  to  the 


38 


FIFTY  YEARS    AAJOXG  THE  BEES 


"per  colony"  part  of  the  business.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  learn  how  much  the  difference  in  the  yield  per 
colony  was  due  to  the  season,  and  how  much  to  the  in- 
creased number,  but  that  is  one  of  the  things  past  find- 
ing out. 

HEDDON  SUPER. 

In  the  year  1883  I  tried  the  Heddon  super  (Fig.  4) 
to  the  number  of  two  hundre<l.     The  Heddon  super  is 


Fig.   II — Hive-Staples. 


much  in  form  like  a  T  super,  but  it  is  divided  lengthwise 
into  four  compartments.  This  prevents,  of  course,  the 
possibility  of  having  separators  running  the  length  of  the 
super,  so  no  separators  are  used.  James  Heddon  and 
others  had  reported  success  in  obtaining  sections  that 
were  straight  enough  for  satisfactory  packing  in  a  ship- 
ping-case, but  with  me  too  many  sections  were  bulged, 
their  neighbors  being  correspondingly  hollowed  out.  I 
did  not  continue  the  use  of  this  super  very  long. 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES  39 

T   SUPER. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year  I  attended  the 
North  American  convention  at  Toronto,  Canada,  and 
while  there  D.  A.  Jones  showed  me  the  T  super  (Fig.  5). 
I  was  much  impressed  with  it.  The  next  year  I  put  a 
number  of  T  supers  in  use,  and  the  more  I  tried  them 
the  better  I  liked  them.  I  have  tried  a  number  of  other 
kinds  since,  but  nothing  that  has  made  me  desire  to 
make  a  change. 

THICK    TOP-BARS. 

When  attending  that  same  convention,  that  very 
practical  Canadian  bee-keeper,  J.  B.  Hall,  showed  me  his 
thick  top-bars,  and  told  me  that  they  prevented  the  build- 
ing of  so  much  burr-comb  between  the  top-bars  and  the 
sections.  Although  I  made  no  immediate  practical  use 
of  this  knowledge,  it  had  no  little  to  do  with  my  using 
thick  top-bars  afterwards.  I  was  at  that  time  using  the 
Heddon  slat  honey-board  (Fig.  6)  and  the  use  of  it  with 
the  frames  I  then  had  was  a  boon.  It  kept  the  bottoms 
of  the  sections  clean,  but  when  it  was  necessary  to  open 
the  brood-chamber  there  was  found  a  solid  mass  of  honey 
between  the  honey-board  and-  the  top-bars.  It  was  some- 
thing of  a  nuisance,  too,  to  have  this  extra  part  in  the 
way,  and  I  am  very  glad  that  at  the  present  day  it  can 
be  dispensed  with  by  having  top-bars  1%  inch  wide  and 
]/s  inch  thick,  with  a  space  of  34  i^^ch  between  top-bar  and 
section.  Not  that  there  is  an  entire  absence  of  burr- 
combs,  but  near  enough  to  it  so  that  one  can  get  along 
much  more  comfortably  than  with  the  slat  honey-board. 
At  any  rate  there  is  no  longer  the  killing  of  bees  that 
there  was  every  day  the  dauby  honey-board  was  re- 
placed. 

But  it  would  take  up  space  unnecessarily  to  follow 
farther  the  course  of  the  years,  especially  as  these  later 
years  are  familiar  to  more  of  my  readers  than  are  the 
former  years,  so  I  will  proceed  to  fulfill  my  chief  purpose 


40  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

in  telling  about  my  work  throughout  the  course  of  the 
year,  reserving,  however,  the  right  to  refer  to  the  past 
whenever  I  like. 

SEASONS   HAVE   CHANGED. 

It  is  only  fair  to  remark,  however,  that  in  later  years 
the  crops  have  not  always  been  so  good  as  formerly.  At 
least  that  is  true  as  to  the  early  crop.     The  fall  crop, 


i 

1 

h 

i^^SBH 

.^^El.^ 

'               'llll 

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-  -^--^IH 

Jl^^^^l 

^M 

nj^!Zl.— aJI^^^B 

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■ 

■ 

V  Fig.  12 — Bottom-rack. 

however,  seems  to  be  on  the  increase.  Just  why,  I  don't 
know,  unless  it  be  that  there  are  two  important  pickle 
factories  at  Marengo,  and  the  bees  have  the  range  of 
some  two  hundred  acres  of  cucumbers.  Sweet  clover 
may  have  a  little  to  do  with  it,  and  also  heartsease. 

If  the  yield  of  fall  honey  keeps  on  the  increase,  it 
will  hardly  do  to  say  there  is  only  one  source  of  honey — 
white  clover.  The  season  of  1902  emphasized  the  change 
in  seasons.  During  the  proper  time  for  white  clover, 
the  bees  would  have  starved  if  it  had  not  been  that  they 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  41 

were  fed  about  a  thousand  pounds  of  sugar.  Clover 
grew  well,  but  blossoms  were  scarce.  The  bloom,  how- 
ever, kept  increasing,  and  during  the  latter  part  of 
August  and  the  first  part  of  September  a  number  of 
colonies  stored  fifty  pounds  and  more  each.  How  much 
of  the  honey  was  from  clover  I  cannot  tell.  As  late  as 
the  last  half  of  October  I  saw  the  bees  busy  on  both 
red  and  white  clover. 

TAKING  BEES  OUT  OF  THE  CELLAR. 

The  difficulty  of  wintering  bees,  at  the  North,  is  not 
entirely  without  its  compensations.  I  am  almost  willing 
to  meet  some  losses,  for  the  sake  of  the  sharp  interest 
with  which  I  look  forw^ard  to  the  time  of  taking  the 
bees  out  of  the  cellar  in  the  spring.  I  live  on  a  place  of 
37  acres,  about  a  mile  from  the  railroad  station,  and  on 
my  way  down  town  a  number  of  soft-maple  trees  are 
growing.  How  eagerly  I  watch  for  the  first  bursting 
of  the  buds,  and  when  the  red  of  the  blossom  actually 
begins  to  push  forth,  with  what  a  thrill  of  pleasure  I 
say,  "The  bees  can  get  out  on  the  first  good  day!" 

In  former  years  I  did  sometimes  bring  out  the  bees 
earlier,  because  they  seemed  so  uneasy,  but  I  doubt  if  I 
gained  anything  by  it.  I  have  known  years  when  a  cold, 
freezing  time  came  on  at  the  time  of  maple-bloom  and 
did  not  take  out  the  bees  for  a  good  many  days,  but  gen- 
erally I  go  by  the  blooming  of  the  soft  maples.  So  I 
watch  the  therm.ometer  and  the  clouds,  and  usually  in  a 
day  or  two  there  comes  a  morning  w^ith  the  sun  shining, 
and  the  mercury  at  45  or  50  degrees,  with  the  pros- 
pect of  going  a  good  deal  higher  through  the  day. 

TAKING    OUT    WITH    A    RUSH. 

This  is  one  of  the  times  wdien  I  want  outside  help, 
for  carrying  two  or  three  hundred  colonies  of  bees  out 
of  the  cellar  is  not  very  light  work  if  it  be  done  with  a 
rush ;  and  I  want  them  all  out  as  soon  as  possible  so  as 


42  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

to  have  a  good  flight  before  night.  If  any  should 
be  brought  out  too  late  to  fly,  it  may  turn  cold  before 
the  next  morning,  when  a  lot  of  bees  might  fly  out  to 
meet  their  death.  To  be  sure,  I  could  get  along  without 
outside  help  by  having  one  of  the  women-folks  help  me, 
for  my  hives  have  cleats  on  each  end,  the  cleats  reaching 
clear  across  the  hive,  so  that  a  rope  can  be  slipped  over 
them,  and  one  can  take  hold  of  the  rope  at  each  side, 
making  the  work  not  so  very  hard.  Indeed,  the  two 
women  have  sometimes  rendered  efficient  service  by  tak- 
ing a  hive  between  them,  as  shown  in  Fig.  ?.  An  endless 
rope  is  used,  making  it  the  work  of  a  very  few  seconds 
to  throw  the  rope  over  each  end  of  the  hive.  The  same 
rope  may  be  used  to  make  the  work  lighter  for  a  sin- 
gle person  (Fig.  8).  But  the  rope  is  not  so  quickly 
adjusted  as  when  two  persons  us^  it. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  better  to  have  a  strong  man  who 
can  pick  up  each  hive  without  any  ceremony,  carry  it 
directly  to  its  place  and  set  it  on  its  stand.  In  this  work 
the  end-cleats  of  the  hive  serve  an  important  purpose,  for 
the  carrier  can  let  the  full  weight  of  the  hive  come  on  his 
forearms  by  having  an  arm  under  each  cleat,  each  hand 
lightly  clasping  the  hive  on  the  opposite  side  (Fig.  9). 

CELLAR  AIRED  BEFORE  CARRYING. 

When  it  is  warm  enough  to  carry  out  bees,  it  will 
be  understood  that  the  cellar  is  likely  to  become  a  good 
deal  warmer  than  45  degrees,  the  temperature  near  which 
it  is  desirable  to  keep  the  cellar  throughout  the  winter. 
So  if  carrying  out  is  undertaken  without  any  previous 
preparation,  when  the  cellar-door  is  opened  the  bees  will 
pour  out  of  the  hives  and  out  of  the  cellar-door,  sailing 
about  in  confusion,  causing  some  loss  and  making  the 
work  of  carrying  out  exceedingly  unpleasant.  This  must 
be  avoided  ;  so  the  previous  evening,  as  soon  as  it  becomes 
dusk,  cellar  door  and  window  are  thrown  wide  open. 

Having  the  cellar  open  the  previous  night  makes  it 
much  pleasanter  to  carry  out  the  bees,  which  do  not  gen- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  43 

erally  come  out  of  their  hives  till  some  time  after  being  set 
on  their  stands.  If  at  any  time  a  colony  seems  inclined  to 
come  out  of  the  hive,  a  little  smoke  is  given  at  the  en- 
trance. At  other  times  it  would  be  bad  to  have  smoke 
in  the  cellar,  but  as  the  bees  are  immediately  to  have  a 
chance  to  fly,  it  does  no  harm  to  have  the  cellar  filled 
with  smoke.  The  hive  entrances  are  left  open,  and  as 
the  hives  have  been  taken  into  the  cellar  with  covers  and 
bottom-boards  just  as  on  the  summer  stands,  the  work 
can  be  done  rapidly. 

Before  each  hive  leaves  the  cellar,  I  make  sure  there 
are  live  bees  in  it,  by  placing  my  ear  at  the  entrance.  If 
I  hear  nothing  I  blow  into  the  entrance.  That  generally 
brings  an  immediate  response,  but  sometimes  I  will  blow 
several  times  before  getting  a  sleepy  reply  from  a  strong 
colony.  That  pleases  me.  If  any  are  dead  they  are 
piled  to  one  side  in  the  cellar. 

PLACING    OF    COLONIES. 

Colonies  intended  for  the  home  apiary  are  set  upon 
their  stands.  Those  for  the  out-apiaries  are  set  upon  the 
ground  not  far  from  the  cellar,  being  placed  in  pairs, 
two  hives  almost  touching,  then  a  space  of  a  foot  or 
more  between  that  pair  and  the  next  pair,  so  as  to  occupy 
as  little  room  as  possible.  (Fig.  10).  Sometimes  some 
attempt  is  made  to  have  colonies  occupy  the  same  stands 
they  occupied  the  previous  year,  but  oftener  no  attention 
is  paid  to  this.  Close  attention,  however,  is  paid  to  select- 
ing the  colonies  that  are  to  be  in  the  home  apiary. 

BEST    BEES    FOR    HOME    APIARY. 

The  hives  with  queens  having  the  best  records  were 
all  marked  the  previous  fall  by  having  a  stick  tacked  on 
the  front.  These  are  all  put  in  the  home  apiary.  Not 
that  queens  wall  be  reared  from  all  of  them.  The  one 
or  two  very  best  colonies  may  furnish  all  the  young 
queens,  the  rest  will  furnish  choice  drones.  By  doing 
this  from  year  to  year  I  ought  to  have  better  stock  than 


44 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


if  I  allowed  the  poorest  drones  to  remain  in  the  home 
apiary. 

TAKING  BEES  ALL  OUT  AT  OXCE. 

Some  object  to  taking  all  the  bees  out  at  the  same 
time,  for  fear  of  so  much  excitement  that  bees  will 
swarm  out  and  return  to  the  wrong  hives.  I  have  never 
liad  much  trouble  in  that  way.  Neither  have  I  had  any 
■evil  results  from  putting  colonies  on  stands  different 
from  the  ones  they  occupied  the  previous  fall. 


Fig.    IS — Entrance-Blocks. 


I  am  not  sure  that  I  can  tell  for  certain  just  why 
there  should  be  this  dift'erence  in  different  apiaries,  but 
I  think  I  can  see  some  reason  for  it.  As  already  men- 
tioned, the  cellar  is  left  wide  open  all  night  the  night 
before  the  bees  are  carried  out.  and  it  is  possible  that 
just  in  that  little  thing  lies  the  secret  of  the  difference. 
When  the  weather  begins  to  warm  ip  in  the  spring 
before  it  is  time  to  carry  out  the  bees,  it  often  happens 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^^IOXG  THE  BEES  4S 

that  there  comes  a  warm  day  when  the  outside  tempera- 
ture runs  up  to  50  degrees  or  more,  and  possibly  this 
may  continue  more  than  a  day.  Such  times  are  hard  on 
the  ventilation  of  the  cellar. 

TEMPERATURE    AND    VEXTILATIOX. 

Please  remember  that  the  ventilation  of  the  cellar 
depends  on  the  difference  of  the  weight  of  the  air  in 
the  cellar  and  the  weight  of  the  outside  air.  Also  remem- 
ber that  the  difference  in  weight  depends  on  the  diff'er- 
ence  in  temperature.  Warm  air  is  lighter  than  cold  air. 
So  when  the  air  outside  the  cellar  is  colder  and  heavier 
than  that  inside,  it  forces  itself  in  and  crowds  up  the 
warm  air,  precisely  in  the  same  way — although  not  with 
the  same  degree  of  force — precisely  in  the  same  way 
that  water  would  pour  into  the  cellar  if  a  body  of  water 
surrounded  the  cellar.  If  the  water  were  lighter  than  the 
air,  no  water  would  flow  into  the  cellar.  So  long  as  the 
outside  air  is  colder  than  the  inside,  ventilation  continues. 

Suppose,  now,  that  the  air  in  the  cellar  stands  at  To 
or  50  degrees,  and  that  the  outside  air  becomes  warmed 
up  to  the  same  temperature.  There  will  be  an  equilibrium 
in  weight,  and  there  will  be  no  ventilation.  The  air  in 
the  cellar  is  all  the  time  becoming  vitiated  by  the  breath- 
ing of  the  bees,  and  no  matter  what  the  ventilation  of 
the  hkrs,  it  can  do  little  good  so  long  as  there  is  no  pure 
air  in  the  cellar.  The  bees  become  frantic  in  their  desire 
for  fresh  air,  and  if  carried  out  while  in  this  condition 
they  will  rush  out  of  the  hive,  the  excitement  becoming 
so  great  that  soon  after  being  put  on  their  stands  whole 
colonies  will  swarm.  If  the  cellar  has  been  open  all 
night,  they  will  find  little  change  of  air  on  being  carried 
out,  and  so  will  not  fly  out  of  the  hives  for  the  sake  of 
getting  air,  but  only  to  take  their  cleansing  flight. 

Of  course,  there  is  an  understanding  with  the 
women-folks  about  the  time  the  bees  are  taken  out,  lest 
they  spot  the  clothes  on  the  line  on  a  wash-day,  but  the 
bees  have  the  right  of  way,  and  if  there  is  a  clash,  the 
wash-day  must  be  postponed. 


46  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

SIZE    OF    EXTRA XCE. 

\Miile  the  bees  were  in  the  cellar,  they  had  an  en- 
trance 12}i  X  2  inches,  and  during  the  cool  days  of  spring, 
after  they  are  taken  out  of  the  cellar,  it  is  no  longer  desir- 
able to  have  so  large  an  entrance.  So  as  soon  as  the  bees 
are  on  their  stands,  the  entrance  is  closed  down  to  a 
very  small  one  by  means  of  ^an  entrance-block.  Before 
describing  this  I  must  tell  you  about  the  hive  and  bottom- 
board. 

CLEATS  FOR   HIVES.    >/ 

The  hive  is  the  ordinary  8-frame  dovetailed, 
only  I  insist  upon  having  on  each  end  a  plain  cleat 
13%xl^x%.  There  are  more  reasons  than  one  for 
having  this  cleat,  rather  than  the  usual  hand-holes.  It  is 
more  convenient  to  take  hold  of  when  one  wants  to  lift 
a  hive.  Latterly  the  manufacturers  use  a  very  short 
cleat,  which  is  a  great  improvement  on  the  hand-hole, 
but  it  does  not  allow  one  to  carry  the  hive  with  the 
weight  resting  on  the  whole  forearm,  as  shown  in  Fig.  9. 
This  way  of  carrying  a  hive  is  one  gotten  up  by  Philo 
Woodruff,  the  hired  man  who  helped  me  for  several  years, 
evidently  to  make  the  work  easier  for  him.  One  day  he 
was  carrying  a  hive  that  had  no  cleats,  only  hand-holes, 
perhaps  the  only  one  of  that  kind  he  had  ever  carried. 
He  seemed  disgusted  with  it,  and  as  he  set  the  hive  down 
he  grumbled,  'T  wish  the  man  that  made  them  hand-holes 
had  to  carry  them." 

Another  advantage  of  the  cleats  is  the  strength  it 
gives  to  the  rabbeted  ends  of  the  hive.  Without  the  cleat 
the  rabbet  leaves  the  hive-end  at  the  top  only  -^q  of  an 
inch  thick  for  more  than  ^  of  an  inch  of  its  depth,  and 
the  splitting  off  of  this  part  is  unpleasantly  frequent. 
W^ith  the  added  cleat  the  thickness  is  three  times  as  much, 
and  it  never  splits  off. 

These  cleats,  not  being  regularly  made  by  manufac- 
turers, can  only  be  had  by  having  them  made  to  order,  so 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  EEES  47 

hives  are  generally  made  without  them,  but  quite  a  num- 
ber of  experienced  bee-keepers  are  quietly  using  them 
because  of  their  distinct  advantage,  notwithstanding  the 
inconvenience  of  having  them  made  to  order. 


BOTTOM-BOARD, 


^ 


The  bottom-board  is  a  plain  box,  two  inches  deep, 
open  at  one  end.     It  is  made  of  six  pieces  of  ^  stuff ; 


Fig.  14 — Wagon  Load  of  Bees. 


two  pieces  22>^  x  2,  one  piece  12i/^  x  2,  and  three  pieces 
13^x7}^.  When  so  desired,  the  bottom-board  is  fas- 
tened to  the  hive  by  means  of  four  staples  1><  in.  wide, 
with  points  ^  inch  long  (Fig.  11). 

With  such  a  bottom-board  there  is  a  space  two 
inches  deep  under  the  bottom-bars,  a  very  nice  thing  in 
winter,  and  at  any  time  when  there  is  no  danger  of  bees 
building  down,  but  quite  too  deep  for  harvest-time.  For- 
merly I  made  the  bottom-board  reversible,  reversing  it 


48  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

in  summer  so  as  to  use  the  shallow  side,  but  latterly  I 
leave  the  deep  side  up  summer  and  winter. 

Of  course,  with  a  2-inch  space  under  the  bottom- 
bars  the  bees  would  build  down,  sometimes  even  as  early 
as  dandelion  bloom.  Before  that  time  I  shove  under 
the  bottom-bars  a  bottom-rack.  As  material  for  a  rack 
there  are  2  pieces  18xlx%,  and  21  pieces  lO^x^XyV 
The  little  pieces  are  nailed  upon  the  ^  inch  sides  of  the 
two  larger  pieces,  ladder-fashion,  with  ^  inch  space 
between  each  two  strips.  The  strips  are  allowed  to  pro- 
ject over  at  each  side  about  an  inch. 

I  value  this  bottom-rack  highly.  It  prevents  building- 
down,  and  at  the  same  time  gives  the  bees  nearly  the 
full  benefit  of  the  deep  space,  preventing  over-heat- 
ing in  hot  weather,  thus  serving  as  no  small  factor  in  the 
prevention  of  swarming.  It  also  saves  the  labor  of  lift- 
ing the  hive  off  the  bottom-board  to  reverse  the  bottom- 
board  and  then  lifting  the  hive  back  again,  spring  and 
fall.      Fig.  12  shows  a  bottom-rack. 

EXTRAXCE-BLOCK. 

Xow  for  that  entrance-block.  Formerly  I  made  it 
heavy  (Fig.  13),  but  now  it  is  thin,  y^  inch  or  so  thick, 
12  inches  long  and  3  inches  wide.  It  is  lightly  nailed  upon 
the  hive  by  one  or  two  small  nails,  and  at  one  lower 
corner  a  notch  1  inch  square  or  less  is  cut  out.  I  think 
that  small  entrance  helps  to  prevent  "drifting"  when  the 
bees  take  their  first  flight. 

When  the  bees  are  being  carried  out,  if  any  are 
noted  as  suspiciously  light,  they  are  marked,  and  the 
next  day  frames  of  honey  are  given  them.  If,  unfor- 
tunately, these  are  not  to  be  had,  sections  of  honey  are  put 
in  the  hive  in  wide  frames,  or  shoved  under. 

HAULIX'G  BEES. 

As  soon  as  the  bees  have  had  a  good  flight,  those  not 
in  the  home  apiary  are  ready  to  be  hauled  away.    I  like  to> 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  49 

get  them  away  as  soon  as  possible,  so  as  to  have  advan- 
tage of  the  spring  pasturage  at  the  out-apiaries,  but  some- 
times the  condition  of  the  roads  causes  delay.  I  first 
hauled  four  colonies  at  a  time  on  a  one-horse  wagon, 
which  you  may  imagine  was  very  slow  work.  That  was 
years  ago,  and  the  number  has  been  gradually  increased 
until  now  40  or  50  colonies  are  taken  at  a  load. 


WAGON  FOR  HAULING. 

After  several  changes,  I  used  for  a  good  while  a  com- 
mon farm-wagon  with  heavy  springs  put  under  the  box. 
Nine  colonies  were  put  in  the  box;  then  a  rack  (Fig.  15) 
(made  in  two  parts  for  convenience  in  handling)  was  put 
on  the  box,  and  22  colonies  were  set  on  the  rack,  making 
31  colonies  in  a  load.  After  that  I  used  a  flat  hay-rack 
or  a  drayman's  platform,  taking  40  or  50  colonies  at  a 
load. 

PREPARATION  FOR  HAULING.  '  ] 

All  the  hives  have  fixed-distance  frames,  so  no  prep- 
aration is  needed  in  the  way  of  fastenins;  frames  in  place 
before  hauling.  The  only  thing  to  do  is  to  fasten  the  cover 
and  close  the  entrance.  The  cover  is  fastened  to  the  hive 
by  two  staples  (the  same  as  those  used  to  fasten  the  bot- 
tom-board to  the  hive)  one  staple  at  the  middle  on  each 
side.  Hives  that  were  brought  from  the  out-apiaries  the 
previous  fall  have  the  covers  already  fastened,  for  they 
have  never  been  opened  since  coming  home,  unless  they 
were  so  light  as  to  need  feeding.  If  things  were  always 
done  just  right,  there  never  would  be  any  opened  because 
suspiciously  light :  but  things  ar  not  always  done  just 
right. 

ENTRANCE-CLOSERS. 

The  entrance  is  of  course  closed  with  wire-cloth,  and 
after  trying  a  good  many  entrance-closers  I  have  settled 


50 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


down  upon  the  simplest  of  all.  It  is  a  piece  of  wire-cloth 
just  large  enough  to  close  the  12^  entrance  and  pro- 
ject an  inch  or  so  up  on  the  front  of  the  hive.  To  make 
the  edges  at  the  bottom  and  at  the  two  ends  more  firm, 
and  to  prevent  them  from  raveling,  the  wire-cloth  is  cut 
about  13)^x4,  and  about  %  of  an  inch  folded  over  at 
the  bottom  and  at  each  end.  These  edges  are  folded  over 
the  blade  of  a  saw.  When  finished,  the  closer  is  12}^ 
inches  long  or  a  trifle  less,  so  it  will  easily  fit  in  the  bot- 


gu 

[IS 

Fig.  15— Rack  for  Hauling  Bees. 


tom-board.  The  closer  is  put  in  place,  a  piece  of  lath  l:3>^ 
inches  long  is  pushed  up  against  it,  and  fastened  by  a  nail 
in  the  middle  of  the  lath.  Then  to  make  it  more  secure, 
a  nail  at  each  end  is  placed  perpendicularly  against  the 
lath  and  driven  a  short  distance  into  the  outer  rim  of  the 
bottom-board.  The  three  nails  used  to  fasten  the  lath 
are  finishing  or  wire  casing  nails  2^  inches  long  or 
longer.  Being  so  long  and  not  driven  in  very  deep,  one 
can  generally  pull  them  out  with  the  fingers. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  51 

At  Fig.  16,  in  the  middle  of  the  cut,  will  be  seen  an 
entrance-closer,  above  it  being  the  lath  to  fasten  the 
closer  in  place. 

Before  the  hives  are  put  on  the  wagon  I  make 
sure  there  is  no  possible  leak  in  any  of  them.  This  is 
hardly  necessary  where  everything  is  in  good  condition, 
but  some  of  my  covers  and  bottom-boards  are  pretty  old, 
and  I  must  plug  up  any  hole  that  would  possibly  allow  a 
bee  to  escape. 

When  the  hives  are  placed  on  their  stands  in  the  out- 
apiary,  the  entrance-closers  are  removed,  a  little  smoke 
being  used  if  the  bees  appear  belligerent.  Then  the  en- 
trances are  closed  with  the  entrance-blocks. 

I  speak  of  taking  bees  to  out-apiaries  as  if  I  were  still 
keeping  up  out-apiaries.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  had 
no  bees  away  from  the  home  apiary  since  1909.  That 
vear  I  kept  bees  in  the  Wilson  apiary  for  the  last  time, 
having  given  up  the  Hastings  apiary  some  years  before, 
and  the  Belden  apiary  still  earHer.  But  it  is  more  con- 
venient, sometimes,  to  speak  of  past  things  as  if  present, 
so  the  reader  will  please  pardon  any  discrepancy  that 
mav  appear  in  this  book  at  any  time  on  that  account. 

NUMBERING    HIVES. 

Numbers  for  hives  are  made  in  this  way :  Pieces 
of  tin  4  X  2^  inches  have  a  small  hole  punched  in  each 
one,  near  the  edge,  about  midway  of  one  of  the  longer 
sides.  With  ^  inch  wire  nails,  nail  them  on  the  top  of  a 
wooden  hive-cover  or  other  plane  surface.  Then  give 
them  a  couple  of  coats  of  white  paint,  and  when  dry, 
put  the  numbers  on  them,  from  1  upward,  with  black 
paint.  There  is  room  to  make  figures  large  enough  to  be 
seen  distinctly  at  quite  a  distance.  These  tin  tags  are 
fastened  on  the  fronts  of  the  hives  with  -)4  or  i^^ch  wire- 
nails  driven  in  not  very  deep,  making  it  easy  to  change 
them  at  any  time  from  one  hive  to  another. 

I  have  also  used  manilla  tags  with  figures  printed  on 
them,  but  the  figures  are  not  seen  at  so  great  a  distance 


52  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

as  on  the  white  tin  tags.  The  tin  tags  cost  more  in  the 
first  place,  but  are  cheaper  in  the  long  run,  for  they  last 
twenty  years  or  more,  while  the  manilla  scarcely  last  a 
fifth  of  that  time  in  satisfactory  shape. 

ORDER   OF   NUMBERS. 

When  the  hives  are  put  on  the  stands  in  the  spring, 
the  numbers  are  all  mixed  up.  The  first  thing  to  be 
done  is  to  enter  upon  the  record-book  these  numbers.  The 
first  hive  in  the  first  row  should  be  No.  1,  the  next  No.  2, 
and  so  on  ;  but  in  the  place  of  No.  1  stands  perhaps  231, 
on  the  place  of  No.  2  stands  ITT,  etc.  So,  on  the  new 
record-book  I  write  No.  1  (231)  on  the  first  page  at  the 
top ;  one-third  the  way  down  the  page,  I  write  No.  2 
(174),  and  so  on. 

Just  as  soon  as  convenient  the  tags  are  taken  off  the 
hives  where  they  are  wrong,  and  the  right  ones  put  on. 
If  on  No.  1  the  tag  says  231,  then  that  tag  is  taken  oft' 
and  the  tag  that  says  1  is  put  on. 

THE   RECORD-BOOK.  V^ 

I  can  tell  more  or  less  of  the  history  of  every  colony 
of  bees  since  I  began  keeping  bees  in  1861.  At  first  I 
kept  the  record  of  each  colony  from  year  to  year  in  the 
same  book,  but  for  a  good  many  years  I  have  had  a  new 
book  each  year.  The  book  I  like  is  12  x  5^^  inches,  con- 
taining about  160  pages  (Fig.  17).  Three  colonies  are 
kept  on  each  page,  so  the  book  is  a  good  deal  larger  than 
I  need,  for  I  have  never  had  quite  400  colonies.  But  a 
good  many  pages  are  used  for  memoranda  and  other 
things,  and  it  is  better  to  have  too  much  room  in  the 
book  than  too  little.  While  the  size  of  the  book  is  not 
so  very  important,  the  binding  is.  If  the  book  were 
bound  the  same  as  the  book  in  which  you  are  now  read- 
ing, it  would  come  to  pieces  if  it  should  be  left  out  long 
enough  in  a  soaking  rain.  Of  course  a  book  never  should 
be  left  out  in  a  rain,  but  of  course  it  sometimes  is.     So 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  53 

I  want  a  book  th^t  will  suffer  no  greater  harm  than  to 
have  the  cover  come  off  if  it  should  be  ram-soaked,  it 
must  be  stitched  together  through  the  middle  so  that  the 
one  set  of  stitches  does  the  whole  busmess,  the  hrst  leat 
being  continuous  with  the  last  leaf,  the  second  contmuous 
with  the  next  to  the  last,  and  so  on. 


HISTORY  OF  QUEENS. 


1^ 


While   the   record-book  is   very   important   to  keep 
track  of  the  work  from  day  to  day,  it  is  perhaps  more 
important    for    the    purpose    of    tracing   the    history    of 
queens  from  year  to  year.    On  each  page  is  left  a  margin 
of  about  ^  of  an  inch.     In  that  margin  is  put  the  last 
two   fieures   of   the   year   in   which   the   queen   is   born, 
•<)9  if  she  was  born  in  1899,  '01  if  in  1901,  and  so  on. 
In  that  margin  is  also  found  anything  important  to  have 
recorded  about  the  queen.     "\>ry  cross"  may  be_  m  the 
margin  if  the  workers  distinguished  themselves  m  that 
direction ;  ''seals  white"  if  the  capping  of  sections  was 
uncommonly  white;  "dark"  if  the  workers  were  unusu- 
ally dark    etc.     Especiallv  am  I  interested  m  the  memo- 
randa in 'the  margin  relating  to  swarming  and  storing 
You  will  find  szv  if  the  colony  of  that  queen  swarmed  last 
vear  •  no  c  if  no  queen-cells  were  found  in  the  hive  dur- 
ing the  whole  of  last  season.     ^  ^  if  twice  I  killed  queen- 
cetls  that  were  started.     No  doubt  the  printer  will  feel 
like  putting  some  periods  after  these  contractions.    Please 
don't  do  it,  Mr.  Printer,  for  I  never  take  time  to  use  any 
such  embellishments  when  making  entries.     The  number 
of  sections  stored  by  the  progeny  of  the  queen  the  preced- 
ing year  has  a  place  in  this  margin ;  24  sec  if  24  sections 
were  stored ;  160  sec  if  so  many  sections  w^ere  stored,     it 
an  unusual  number  of  sections  was  reached,  that  record 
follows  the  queen  as  long  as  she  lives.     For  instance,  in 
the  year  1902  there  may  be  found  in  one  case  in  the  mar- 
gin ^44  sec,  60  sec  in  ipoo,  178  sec  in  pp.     That  means 
that  the  progenv  of  that  queen  stored  44  sections  m  the 
preceding  vear,  1901,  60  sections  in  1900,  and  178  sections 


54 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


in  1899.  An  unusual  record,  considering  the  character 
of  the  seasons  in  1900  and  1901.  If,  in  the  year  1902,  a 
1900  queen  is  by  any  means  replaced  by  a  young  queen, 
a  line  is  drawn  through  the  oo  and  o^  is  written  below  it. 
As  soon  as  I  have  entered  in  the  record  the  old  num- 
bers that  were  on  the  hives,  as  previously  mentioned,  I 
am  ready  to  enter  the  respective  ages  of  the  queens.     If, 


Fig.  i6 — Entrance  Closers. 


tor  mstance,  I  find  at  the  beginning,  Xo.  1  (231).  I 
turn  to  No.  231  in  last  year's  record  and  find  the  year  set 
down  for  the  age  of  the  queen,  and  put  it  in  the  new  book 
at  Xo.  1.    This  I  do  throudior.t  all  the  numbers. 


ADVANTAGE  OF  BOOK  FOR  RECORD. 


I  do  not  need  to  be  in  the  apiary  to  do  this  work ; 
it  crn  be  done  in  the  house  just  as  well.  Indeed  I  spend 
a  good  deal  of  time  in  the  house  with  my  record-book, 
studying  and  planning,  perhaps  lying  on  the  lounge.     I 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 


55 


had  two  out-ap,ar,es,  one  three  n^Ues  north  at  Jack  Wil- 
son's, on  the  old  farm  where  my  l^''*'^!'^?  ,^°™  Vre- 
nther   five   miles    southeast   at   cousm   Hastmgs .      rre 
rentlv  I  studied  my  book  most  of  the  way  m  gomg  to  one 
<j     th L  apiaries,  making  my  plans,  and  jottmg  down 

be  ehanged,  dther  through  accident  or  mischievous  de- 
sign One  disadvantage  of  the  book  is  f^  cla"ger  of  for^ 
.retting  it.  One  may  forget  it  at  an  out-apiary  and  then 
have  t^  make  a  special  trip  to  get  it.    I've  done  that. 

SPRING   OVER-H.\ULING. 

^fter  the  bees  are  hauled  to  the  ""t-apiaries  I  am 
ready  for  the  spring  overhauling  as  soon  -^  \«  ^f^^^  ' 
ripht  for  it  I  do  not  want  to  open  up  the  hives  excepr 
at  at  me  when  it  is  warm  enough  for  bees  to  fly  freely. 
Too  m^h  danger  of  chilling  the  brood.  Sometimes  there 
mav  come  one  good  day  followed  by  a  week  of  wea  her 
rb^d^r  bees%o  Av-  So  I  may  comme-  overhaul  ng 
in  \Dril  and  perhaps  not  till  m  May :  and  if  1  do  com 
meiKe  in  Iprill  miy  not  get  all  done  till  well  on  m  May. 

HIVE    SE.\T.  ■^ 

Having  due  regard  to  my  own  comfort,  I  want  a 
seat  when  I  work  a?  a  hive.  Mr.  Doohttle  once  tried  to 
"oe  a  little  fun  at  me  in  convention,  because  I  ace, 
dentally  admitted  that  I  sat  down  to  work  at  bees  If 
were  obliged  to  work  all  the  season  without  a  seat,  I 
Im  afraid-  I  would  have  to  give  up  the  business  from 
exharstion.     Moreover,  if  I  had  the  strength  of  a  Sam- 

on  i  dSvt  think  I  should  waste  it  ^toopmg  over  hives 
so  long  as  I  could  get  a  seat.  I  generally  have  three  or 
four  seats  about  the  apiary,  and  they  may  not  all  be  of 

he  same  kind.     A  common  glass-box  is  more  used  than 


56  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

any  other.  To  make  it  convenient  for  carrying,  a  strap 
of  leather  or  cloth  may  be  nailed  to  two  diagonally  oppo- 
site corners  on  the  bottom.  Or  the  cover  may  be  nailed 
on  the  box  with  a  hand-hole  in  the  middle.  The  box 
being  of  three  different  dimensions,  one  has  a  choice  as 
to  height  of  seat.  It  is  a  little  curious  to  know  what  a 
difference  there  is  in  this  respect  as  to  the  preferences 
of  different  persons.  My  assistant  never  uses  the 
highest  seat  the  box  affords,  while  I  never  use  the  lowest. 
Fig.  18  shows  a  hive-seat  with  a  strap-handle,  the 
kind  I  prefer;  Fig.  19  shows  one  with  hand-hole,  which 
my  assistant  prefers. 

A  DIGRESSION. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  digress  a  little,  and  tell  you  about 
my  help.  Years  ago,  my  wife,  her  sister  Emma,  and 
sometimes  my  boy  Charlie  (I  have  no  other  children),  all 
worked  with  me  at  the  bees.  Those  were  delightful  days. 
I  think  Charlie  would  have  made  a  very  bright  bee- 
keeper, but  somehow  he  did  not  take  kindly  to  the  busi- 
ness, and  has  spent  his  later  years  in  the  army  and  gov- 
ernment service.  My  wife  is  one  of  the  sort  who  is 
never  happy  unless  she  is  doing  something  for  someone 
else,  so  for  years  she  has  been  confined  to  the  house  so 
as  to  help  make  a  pleasant  home  for  others,  sometimes 
of  my  relatives,  sometimes  of  hers.  Ever  since  the  year 
of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-eight  there  has 
dwelt  with  us  my  wife's  mother,  Mrs.  Margaret  Wilson, 
a  blessed  old  Scotch  saint,  whose  presence  in  the  home 
I  feel  to  be  much  like  the  presence  of  the  ark  in  the 
house  of  Obed-Edom,  when  "it  was  told  king  David,  say- 
ing. The  Lord  hath  blessed  the  house  of  Obed-Edom,  and 
all  that  pertaineth  unto  him,  because  of  the  ark  of  God." 
She  is  a  great  consumer  of  honey,  and  her  temper  is  cor- 
respondingly sweet. 

ASSISTANT   BEE-KEEPER. 

So  for  a  number  of  years  Miss  Emma  AL  Wilson  has 
given  me  the  only  assistance  I  have  had  in  the  apiary. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


57 


Hired  help  does  some  such  work  as  carrying  out  and 
hauHng  bees,  putting  together  hives,  etc.,  unloading  honey 
brought  from  the  out-apiary,  taking  sections  out  of  su- 
pers, etc.  Sometimes  it  has  been  a  convenience  that  I 
could  call  on  the  hired  help  in  the  employ  of  my  good 
brother-in-law,  Ghordis  Stull.  Ghordis  has  the  place 
pretty  well  filled  with  raspberries  and  strawberries,  and 
he  is  'way  up  in  such  matters.     Previous  to  his  occupancy 


Fig.  1/ — Record  Books. 


of  the  place,  it  was  chiefly  in  grass,  for  I  could  give  no 
attention  to  cultivated  crops.  The  only  thing  I  pretend 
to  oversee  of  the  farm  work  is  the  cultivation  of  the 
rose-beds.  I  could  hardly  live  without  roses,  and  my 
wife  is  an  expert  in  chrysanthemums.     With  the   fruit 


58  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

crop  I  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  except  with  the  fin- 
ished product,  and  only  so  much  of  that  as  we  can  fin- 
ish in  the  house — by  no  means  a  small  quantity. 

]\Iiss  Wilson  was  a  school-teacher  with  health  run 
down,  and  in  1882  she  stopped  a  year  for  the  out-door 
life  of  bee-keeping.  She  is  still  stopping.  Although 
never  rugged  in  health,  I  think  she  has  never  missed  a 
day's  work  in  the  apiary  during  all  the  years  since,  when 
there  was  work  to  be  done.  Small  of  stature  and  frail 
of  build,  she  yet  has  a  remarkable  capacity  for  w^ork,  per- 
haps partly  owing  to  the  fact  that  she  is  full-blooded 
Scotch,  and  she  will  go  through  more  colonies  in  a  day 
than  I  can,  do  my  best.  I  think,  however,  that  the  bees 
prefer  just  a  little  to  have  me  work  with  them.  They 
have  more  time  to  get  out  of  the  way,  and  not  so  many 
of  them  get  killed. 

T-SUPER  SEAT. 

Well,  I  started  in  for  a  digression,  but  I  didn't  mean 
to  write  a  history.  We  were  talking  about  seats.  An- 
other kind  of  seat  is  made  of  an  old  T-super.  A  piece  of 
lath  is  nailed  to  two  opposite  diagonal  corners,  and  an- 
other piece  nailed  to  the  other  two  corners.  That  stif- 
fens and  strengthens  it,  so  it  makes  a  good  seat  for  one 
who  doesn't  like  a  low  seat. 


HIVE-TOOLS. 

Of  all  the  hive-tools  I  have  tried,  I  like  best  the 
Muench  tool  (Fig.  20).  Its  broad  semi-circular  end  with 
sharp  edge  can  hardly  be  excelled  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  covers  and  supers,  and  when  the  other  end  is 
thrust  between  two  frames,  a  quarter  turn  separates  the 
frames  with  the  least  possible  effort.  Miss  Wilson  has 
a  liking  for  the  Root  tool.  I  have  not  used  it  much,  but 
it  has  the  special  advantage  that  it  is  a  fine  scraper.  Be- 
side the  hive-tool  for  opening  the  hive  and  starting  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  59 

frames,  if  the  hives  are  to  be  cleaned  out  another  tool  is 
needed. 

After  trying  a  number  of  different  things  for  hive- 
cleaners,  I  have  been  best  satisfied  with  a  hatchet,  the 
handle  sawed  short,  so  that  it  will  not  be  in  the  w^ay  when 
working  in  the  bottom  of  the  hive,  the  edge  dull  and 
a  perfectly  straight  line,  and  the  outside  part  of  the  blade 
also  ground  to  a  straight  line  and  at  right  angles  with  the 
edge.  This  right-angled  corner  is  to  clean  out  the  corners 
of  the  hive.  In  cleaning,  the  hatchet  is  moved  rapidly 
back  and  forth,  or  rather  from  side  to  side,  the  blade 
being  held  at  right  angles  to  the  surface  being  cleaned. 
The  weight  of  the  hatchet  is  ciuite  a  help,  something  like 
a  fiy-wheel  in  machinery. 

It  would  be  a  nice  thing  to  clean  the  propolis  out  of 
all  hives  every  spring,  because  I  am  in  a  region  for 
profitable  propolis  production  if  it  ever  comes  to  be  a  sta- 
ple article  of  commerce ;  but  it  takes  some  time  to  clean 
the  hives,  and  it  is  not  done  every  spring. 

CLEANING  HIVES. 

If  the  hives  are  to  be  cleaned,  an  empty  clean  hive 
is  ready  in  advance.  The  empty  hive  is  placed  at  right 
angles  to  the  hive  to  be  overhauled,  the  back  end  of  the 
empty  hive  near  the  front  end  of  the  other  hive,  thus 
leaving  plenty  of  room  for  my  seat  beside  the  full-hive, 
and  leaving  the  empty  hive  within  easy  reach. 

OPENING  HIVE. 

A  single  pufi:  at  the  entrance  if  the  smoker  is  going 
well,  or  two  or  three  puffs  if  it  is  yet  scarcely  under 
headway,  notifies  the  guards  that  they  needn't  bother  to 
come  out  if  they  feel  a  little  jar.  The  cover  is  cracked 
open  the  least  bit  at  one  corner  by  the  tool,  then  the 
other  corner  is  cracked  open  and  the  cover  lifted.  It 
could  be  lifted  without  using  the  tool  twice,  simply  pry- 
ing rp  one  corner  enough,  but  that  would  jar  the  bees 


60 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


more,  and  excite  them.  The  desire  is  to  get  along  with 
the  smallest  amount  of  jar  and  smoke  possible,  for  the 
queen  is  to  be  found,  and  too  much  smoke  or  jarring  will 
set  the  bees  to  running  so  the  queen  cannot  be  found.  As 
soon  as  the  cover  is  raised,  a  little  smoke  is  blown  across 
the  tops  of  the  frames,  not  down  into  the  hive.     \Vhile  it 


^    Fig.  i8— Hive-Seat  zcitJi  Strap-Handle. 

is  bad  to  use  too  much  smoke,  it  is  also  bad  to  use  too 
little,  for  if  the  bees  are  once  thoroughly  aroused  it 
takes  more  smoke  to  subdue  them  than  it  does  to  keep 
them  under  in  the  first  place. 


TAKING  OUT  FRAMES. 


y 


\Mien  the  cover  is  removed  the  dummy  is  taken  out. 
If  the  dummy  was  on  the  near  side,  the  frames  are  all 
crowded  to  that  side,  allowing  me  to  lift  out  the  farther 
frame.  \Miether  that  farther  frame  is  now  to  be  put 
into  the  empty  hive  depends  upon  circumstances.  It  is  to 
be  put  in  if  the  next  frame  contains  brood  ;  otherwise  not. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AAIONG  THE  BEES  61 

For  I  want  the  brood-nest  to  begin  with  the  frame  next  to 
the  farther  outside  frame,  at  least  that  is  generally  the 
way.  Then  I  can  tell  at  any  time  afterward  how  many 
frames  of  brood  are  in  a  hive,  merely  by  finding  where 
the  brood  begins  on  the  side  next  me.  One  after  another 
the  frames  are  changed  into  the  empty  hive,  making  sure 
that  at  least  those  containing  brood  maintain  their  original 
relative  positions. 

\Mien  the  old  hive  is  empty,  then  it  is  set  oft*  the 
stand  and  the  other  takes  its  place.  The  order  of  proceed- 
ing may  be  changed  by  first  setting  the  full  hive  off  the 
stand  and  putting  the  empty  one  in  its  place.  Or  the 
change  may  be  made  when  half  the  frames  have  changed 
their  places.  The  last  makes  the  lifting  a  little  lighter, 
but  takes  more  time. 

The  empty  hive  is  now  to  be  cleaned  out,  the  hatchet 
being  used  for  all  but  the  rabbet,  which  is  a  separate 
contract.  Propolis  is  used  in  large  quantities  in  my  local- 
ity, and  the  trough  formed  by  the  tin  rabbet  will,  in  the 
course  of  years,  become  completely  filled. 

In  the  matter  of  propolis,  there  is  a  dift'erence  in 
bees  as  well  as  localities.  The  worst  daubers  I  ever  had 
were  the  so-called  Funics  or  Tunisians  from  the  north 
of  Africa.  One  colony  put  so  much  propolis  at  an  upper 
entrance  that  I  rolled  up  a  ball  of  it  somewhere  between 
the  size  of  a  hickorynut  and  a  black  walnut. 

To  clean  out  the  rabbet,  the  small  end  of  the  hive- 
tool  is  well  adapted.  Holding  it  perpendicularly,  with  the 
edge  of  the  tool  diagonally  in  the  trough,  I  play  it  back- 
ward and  forward  until  the  trough  is  emptied  of  propolis. 
Still  better  is  a  screw-driver,  rather  sharp,  ground  tO' 
just  the  right  width  to  fit  easily  in  the  trough. 

The  empty  hive  is  now  used  to  take  the  place  of  the 
next  hive  to  be  overhauled,  which  in  its  turn  is  cleaned 
and  then  used  again,  and  so  on. 

\\Tiile  the  frames  are  being  changed  from  one  hive 
to  the  other,  observations  and  necessary  changes  are 
made.  If  there  is  no  cleaning  of  hives,  then  the  work  i? 
shortened.     The  dummv  is  taken  out,  and  one  frame  is^ 


62  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

also  taken  out  so  as  to  leave  freer  working  room.  This 
one  frame  may  be  put  in  an  empty  hive  standing  con- 
venient ;  or  it  may  be  leaned  against  the  hive  being  oper- 
ated on,  or  against  an  adjoining  hive.  If  the  dummy  was 
on  the  near  side,  then  the  frames  are  all  pushed  toward 
me,  two  or  three  being  started  at  a  time,  and  when  all 
are  started  the  tool  is  pushed  down  between  the  farther 
frame  and  the  side  of  the  hive,  and  all  the  frames  at 
one  push  shoved  toward  me  enough  to  give  plenty  of 
room  at  the  farther  side.  If  the  frames  are  Hoffman  (a 
few  hives  contain  Hoffman  frames)  then  it  is  necessary 
to  start  each  frame  separately  before  it  can  be  lifted  out. 

WATCHI^Xr    FOR    OUEEX. 

As  the  frames  are  being  handled,  the  thing  that 
receives  closer  attention  than  anything  else  is  to  see  the 
queen  so  as  to  know  whether  she  is  clipped  or  not.  For 
if  a  colony  should  have  an  undipped  queen  there  is  a  fair 
chance  that  it  might  swarm  and  decamp  ;  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  almost  any  colony  may  have  superseded  its 
queen  the  previous  fall,  leaving  it  with  an  undipped 
queen. 

IMPLEMENT    FOR    CLIPPING.         v/ 

If  the  queen  is  undipped,  of  course  I  clip  her.  Nearly 
always  I  use  a  pair  of  scissors  for  clipping,  although  I 
have  tried  a  knife.  The  strongest  argument  in  favor  of 
the  knife  is  that  a  knife  is  always  on  hand.  But  it  is  as 
easy  to  have  a  pair  of  scissors  on  hand.  They  may  be 
tied  to  the  record-book,  and  the  record-book  is  sure  to  be 
always  on  hand.  Most  of  the  time  I  have  had  a  pair 
of  embroidery  scissors  tied  to  my  record-book  with  a 
string  long  enough  to  allow  the  scissors  to  be  freely  used, 
but  I  have  been  surprised  to  find  that  much  larger  scis- 
sors will  do  very  good  work.  Latterly  I  have  used  a 
common  pair  of  gentleman's  pocket  scissors,  and  I  am 
not  sure  but  I  like  them  as  well  as  the  embroidery  scis- 


FIFTY  YEARS    A]vlOXG  THE  BEES  63 

sors.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  have  a  pair  of  these  as  a 
knife  constantly  in  the  pocket.  To  make  good  work  clip- 
])ing,  a  knife  should  be  very  sharp,  and  I  find  it  is  harder 
to  have  a  sJiarp  knife  constantly  on  hand  than  a  sharp  pair 
of  scissors.  Neither  is  it  so  necessary  that  the  scissors  be 
sharp. 

FIXDIXG  QUEEN.         ^ 

Before  a  queen  is  clipped  she  must  be  found.  I  have 
seen  some  attempt  at  rules  for  finding  a  queen,  but  after 
all  is  said,  you  must  do  more  or  less  hunting  for  a  queen 
if  you  would  find  her.  I  generally  begin  looking  on  the 
first  frame  of  brood  I  come  to — hardly  worth  while  to 
look  on  any  frame  before  the  brood  is  reached — and  as 
I  raise  the  frame  out  of  the  hive  I  keep  watch  of  the 
side  next  me.  Then  when  the  frame  is  lifted  out  of  the 
hive,  before  looking  at  the  opposite  side,  I  glance  at  the 
nearest  side  of  the  next  frame  in  the  hive ;  for  it  requires 
scarcely  any  time  to  do  this,  and  if  she  happens  to  be  in 
sight  it  will  be  a  saving  of  time  to  lift  out  immediately 
the  frame  she  is  on.  Xot  seeing  her  on  the  frame  in  the 
hive,  I  look  over  both  sides  of  the  frame  in  my  hand, 
and  continue  thus  through  all  the  frames.  Although  it 
was  not  worth  while  to  look  for  her  on  any  comb  before 
the  brood-nest  was  reached,  it  is  worth  while  to  look  for 
her  on  the  comb  or  combs  remaining  after  passing  over 
those  that  contain  brood,  for  in  trying  to  get  away  from 
the  light  she  will  go  onto  the  outside  combs. 

This  trying  to  get  away  from  the  light  on  the  part  of 
the  queen,  by  going  from  one  comb  to  the  other,  makes 
me  go  over  the  combs  as  rapidly  as  possible  without  look- 
ing too  closely,  for  if  I  do  not  see  her  with  a  slight  look- 
ing, the  chances  are  that  she  is  on  another  comb,  and  I 
count  it  better  to  run  the  chance  of  going  over  the  combs 
again,  rather  than  to  go  too  slowly.  For  if  one  goes  over 
the  combs  slowly  enough,  it  is  a  pretty  safe  thing  to  say 
that  the  queen  will  be  driven  clear  to  the  other  side  of 
the  hive. 


64 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


^ly  assistant,  however,  who  is  an  expert  at  finding 
queens,  holds  a  different  theory,  and  as  a  consequence 
her  practice  is  different.  She  thinks  it  better  to  go  more 
slowly  and  make  sure  of  finding  the  queen  first  time 
going  over.  She  takes  more  time  to  go  over  the  combs 
the  first  time,  but  she  doesn't  often  have  to  go  over  the 
combs  a  second  time  ;  so  perhaps  one  way  is  as  good  as 
the  other. 


Fig.  ig — Hive-Seat  zuith  Hand-Holes. 


If  the  queen  is  not  found  the  second  time  going  over, 
she  may  be  found  the  third  time,  but  it  is  quite  possible 
that  she  is  hid  in  sr.ch  a  way  that  it  may  be  impossible 
to  find  her  with  long  searching.  So  it  is  economy  to  close 
the  hive,  and  try  it  again  another  day,  or  at  least  to  wait 
half  an  hour. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  65 

AIDS  TO   FINDING  QUEEN.       Y 

If,  for  some  special  reason,  it  is  very  important  to 
find  the  queen  without  any  postponement,  sometimes  the 
combs  are  put  in  pairs.  Two  of  the  combs  are  put  in  an 
empty  hive,  the  two  being"  close  together ;  then  another 


Fig.   20 — Muench  Hive-Tool. 


pair  is  put  an  inch  or  more  distant  from  the  first  pair, 
and  the  remaining  combs  in  the  hive  on  the  stand  are 
arranged  in  pairs  the  same  way.  Wherever  the  queen  is, 
it  will  not  be  long  before  she  will  be  in  the  middle  of 
whatever  pair  of  combs  she  is  on.  Going  on  with  work 
at  another  hive,  I  return  after  a  little,  and  look  again 


66  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

for  the  queen.  Lifting  out  the  comb  nearest  me,  I  look 
first  on  the  side  of  its  mate  in  the  hive,  and  if  I  do  not  see 
the  queen  there,  I  quickly  look  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  comb  in  iny  hand.  I  am  pretty  sure  to  find  her  in 
the  middle  of  one  of  the  pairs. 

If  the  pairs  are  sufficiently  separated  from  each  other 
(I  don't  mean  the  two  combs  of  each  pair  separated,  for 
the  two  combs  in  each  pair  should  be  as  close  together 
as  possible,  but  that  one  pair  should  be  far  enough  from 
another  pair  so  that  the  bees  should  not  communicate), 
the  bees  will,  after  standing  long  enough,  show  signs 
of  uneasiness  by  running  over  the  combs,  all  but  the  one 
pair  that  has  the  queen  on,  and  the  quietness  of  the  bees 
on  that  one  pair  is  sufficient  warrant  for  seeking  the 
queen  there. 

•If  the  bees  get  to  running,  it  is  hardly  worth  while 
to  continue  the  search  for  the  queen  until  they  have 
quieted  down.  Sometimes  she  will  be  on  the  side  or  the 
bottom  of  the  hive,  and  will  be  found  only  by  lifting 
ort  all  the  combs. 

BEE-STRAINER. 

A  strainer  may  be  used  for  straining  the  bees  through 
and  leaving  the  queen.  A  queen-excluder  is  fastened 
to  the  bottom  of  an  empty  hive-body,  and  that  makes 
the  strainer.  The  strainer  is  set  over  a  hive-body  in 
which  there  is  a  frame  of  brood  but  no  bees — at  least  it 
must  be  certain  that  the  queen  cannot  possibly  be  in  the 
hive-body  under  the  strainer.  Then  all  the  bees  are 
shaken  and  brushed  from  the  combs  into  the  strainer. 
The  workers  will  go  down  through  the  excluder,  being 
hurried  by  a  little  smoke  if  necessary,  while  the  queen  will 
be  left  in  the  strainer. 

On  the  whole  the  queen  is  generally  found  so  easily 
by  the  ordinary  looking  over  the  combs  that  it  is  seldom 
that  any  other  plan  is  resorted  to. 

It  happens  once  in  a  great  while  that  the  queen  is  on 
the  cover  when  it  is  lifted  ofif  the  hive,  so  it  i^  well  to 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  67 

glance  over  the  under  surface  of  the  cover  as  it  is  re- 
moved from  the  hive.  Once  in  a  great  while  I  have 
known  the  queen  after  no  little  searching  to  be  on  the 
shoulder  or  some  other  part  of  the  operator.  How  she 
managed  to  get  there  I  don't  know. 

CATCHING   THE   QUEEN.      "^ 

When  the  queen  is  found,  she  must  be  caught  before 
she  is  clipped.  I  want  to  catch  her  by  the  thorax  or  just 
back  of  the  thorax,  and  if  she  is  in  motion,  by  the  time 
I  reach  for  the  thorax  it  will  have  passed  along  out  of 
reach.  So  I  make  a  reach  more  as  if  attempting  to  catch 
her  by  the  head,  and  the  movements  she  makes  is  likely  to 
bring  my  thumb  and  finger  down  on  each  side  of  her 
thorax,  and  in  that  position  she  is  held  firmly  on  the 
comb  (Fig.  21).  There  is  no  danger  of  hurting  the 
queen  by  giving  a  pretty  hard  squeeze  on  the  thorax,  and 
indeed  there  is  not  so  very  much  danger  if  the  hold  is 
farther  back  and  the  abdomen  gets  a  little  squeeze. 

Then  the  thumb  and  finger  are  slid  up  of¥  the  thorax, 
at  the  same  time  pressed  together,  and  this  gives  me  a 
grip  on  the  wings,  when  she  is  lifted  from  the  comb, 
fairly  caught  (Fig.  22). 

All  this  is  done  with  the  right  hand,  generally,  al- 
though occasionally  she  is  caught  with  the  left  hand.  At 
any  rate,  she  is  now  shifted  to  the  left  hand,  and  held 
between  the  thumb  and  finger,  back  up,  head  and  thorax 
between  thumb  and  finger,  head  pointing  to  the  left,  ready 
to  clip  (Fig.  23). 

CLIPPING    THE    QUEEN. 

Then  one  blade  of  the  scissors  is  slipped  under  the 
two  wings  of  one  side,  and  they  are  cut  ofT  as  short  as 
they  can  conveniently  be  clipped  (Fig.  24). 

The  queen  will  be  just  as  helpless  about  flying  if  only 
the  larger  wing  on  one  side  is  clipped,  and  clipping  the 
one  wing  will  not  mar  her  looks  so  much,  but  when  a 


68  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

queen  is  scurrying  across  a  comb,  or  when  you  get  just 
a  glimpse  of  her  in  the  hive,  it  is  much  easier  to  tell  at 
a  glance  that  she  is  clipped  if  both  wings  on  one  side  are 
cut  off. 

ADVANTAGE  OF  CLIPPIXG. 

Although  nowadays  the  practice  of  clipping  has  be- 
come quite  general,  there  are  a  few  who  doubt  its  ad- 


Fig.  21 — Catching  the  Queen. 


visability.  I  would  not  like  to  dispense  with  clipping  if  I 
kept  only  one  apiary  and  were  on  hand  all  the  time,  and 
with  out-apiaries  and  no  one  to  watch  them  it  seems  a 
necessity.  If  a  colony  swarms  with  a  clipped  queen,  it 
cannot  go  off.  True,  the  queen  may  possibly  be  lost, 
but  it  is  better  to  lose  the  queen  than  to  lose  both  bees 
and  queen. 

If  there  were  no  other  reason  for  it,  I  should  want 
my  queens  clipped  for  the  sake  of  keeping  a  proper  record 


is 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  69 

of  them.  A  colony,  for  example,  distinguishes  itself  by 
storing  more  than  any  other  colony.  I  want  to  breed 
next  spring  from  the  queen  of  that  colony.  But  she  may 
be  superseded  in  the  fall  after  that  big  harvest,  and  if 
she  is  not  clipped  there  is  no  way  for  me  to  tell  in  the 
following  season  whether  she  has  been  superseded  or  not. 
Indeed  I  can  hardly  see  how  it  is  possible  to  keep  proper 
track  of  a  queen  without  having  her  clipped. 

Sometimes  when  a  queen  is  being  found,  she  will 
quickly  run  under  and  out  of  the  way,  giving  one  a  mere 
limpse  of  her,  so  that  it  is  not  easy  to  say  whether  it  was 
a  queen  or  a  worker  that  was  seen,  in  which  case  the 
missing  wings  aid  in  recognizing  her.  To  this,  how- 
ever, it  may  be  replied  that  there  is  less  need  to  find 
queens  where  they  are  not  kept  clipped. 

BEE-SMOKERS. 

You  who  have  used  smokers  ever  since  you  began 
working  with  bees  hardly  know  how  to  appreciate  them. 
At  least  it  is  doubtful  if  you  appreciate  them  as  much  as 
you  would  if  you  had  done  as  I  did  when  I  first  began 
bee-keeping,  going  around  with  a  pan  of  coals  and  a 
burning  brand  on  it,  or  else  a  lighted  piece  of  rotten  wood 
(indeed  this  last  was  quite  an  improvement  over  the 
first),  the  only  bellows  I  had  being  a  sound  pair  of  lungs. 
Any  one  of  the  various  makes  of  smokers  I  have  tried 
will  do  quite  satisfactory  work.  I  have  used  up  more 
Clark  smokers  than  any  others.  Although  low  in  price, 
the  Clark  is  really  more  expensive  than  any  other.  It 
works  beautifully  while  new.  but  the  "new"  wears  off 
entirely  too  soon.  The  bellows  becomes  incapacitated  by 
reason  of  the  smoke  sucked  into  it,  and  then  there  is  no 
good  way  to  clean  it  out. 

CONTINUOUS    AND    CUT-OFF    BLAST. 

The  Bingham,  Corneil,  Crane,  and  others,  are  all 
good.  The  cut-off  blast  lengthens  the  life  of  a  smoker, 
but  shortens  its  blast.     The  continuous  blast,  as  in  the 


70  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

Clark,  allows  one  to  send  the  smoke  with  more  force, 
but,  as  already  mentioned,  shortens  the  life  of  the  smoker, 
because  the  bellows  become  foul  with  smoke.  The  Crane 
has  the  advantage  of  the  full  strength  of  blast  without 
the  weakening  of  the  cut-off,  and  works  in  perfection  for 
a  long  time.  Still,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  metal  valve 
becomes  dirty,  and  it  must  be  cleaned.  Fortunately  the 
part  containing  the  valve  can  be  taken  off,  allowing  all 
to  be  made  just  as  clean  as  when  new.  It  takes  quite  a 
bit  of  time  to  do  this,  but  it  is  time  wxll  spent,  and  one 
cleaning  a  year,  even  with  heavy  use,  is  sufficient.  Those 
who  do  not  care  for  so  strong  a  blast  will  prefer  a 
Bingham,  Cornell,  or  other  smoker  with  a  cut-off,  never 
needing  to  be  cleaned,  while  those  who  like  the  strong 
blast  will  be  willing  to  spend  the  time  occasionally  clean- 
ing the  Crane.  The  'latest  Root  smokers  are  the  favorite 
of  all. 

CLEATS  ON  SMOKERS. 

Using  a  smoker  all  day  long  is  a  hard  thing  on  the 
muscles  that  work  the  bellows,  and  the  stiff er  the  spring 
of  the  bellows  the  more  tiresome  the  work.  But  unless 
the  spring  be  quite  stiff,  the  smoker  will  drop  out  of  the 
hand  when  the  grasp  is  relaxed  so  as  to  allow  the  bellows 
to  open.  I  think  it  was  W.  L.  Coggshall  who  suggested 
little  cleats  on  the  smoker,  and  these  cleats  have  given 
great  satisfaction.  They  are  merely  strips  of  wood  one- 
fourth  inch  by  one-eighth,  extending  across  the  upper 
end  of  each  bellows-board  and  half  way  down  the  sides 
(Fig.  80).  The  sharp  edges  of  the  cleats  cling  to  the 
fingers,  allowing  the  spring  to  be — I  don't  know  just  how 
much  weaker,  but  I  should  guess  only  half  as  strong  as 
without  the  cleats.  Most  of  the  latest  smokers  are  now 
made  so  that  no  cleats  are  needed. 

SMOKER-FUEL. 

It  is  a  matter  of  much  importance  to  have  plenty  of 
the   right   fuel  and  lighting  material.     Time  is   precious 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


71 


during  the  busy  season,  and  it  is  trying  on  the  temper 
to  have  to  spend  much  time  getting  a  smoker  started,  or 
rehghting  it  when  it  has  gone  out.  There  are  a  great 
many  different  things  that  can  be  used  for  fuel,  and  it  is 
largely  a  matter  of  convenience  as  to  what  is  best  for 
each  one.  Pine  needles,  rotten  wood,  sound  wood,  ex- 
celsior rammed  down  hard,  planer  shavings,  greasy  cot- 


Fig.  22 — Caught! 

ton-waste   thrown  away  along  the   railroad,  peat,   rags 
corn-cobs,   old  bags— in   fact  almost  anything  that   will 
burn  may  be  used  in  a  smoker.    Whatever  is  used,  how- 
ever, there  should  be  a  good  stock  of  it  on  hand  thor- 
oughly drv.  with  no  chance  for  the  rain  to  reach  it. 


73  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

GREEN    FUEL. 

And  yet  there  are  times  when  something  green  is 
better.  When  a  continuous  and  strong  smoke  is  wanted, 
after  a  hot  fire  has  been  started  in  the  smoker,  it  is  a 
good  thing  to  fill  the  smoker  with  green  sticks  from  a 
growing  tree.  The  hot  fire  and  the  continuous  blowing 
makes  it  burn  freely,  and  the  smoke  from  green  wood  is 
sharper  than  that  from  dry. 

But  it  is  only  on  special  occasions  that  it  is  desirable 
to  have  green  wood,  and  it  should  at  all  other  times  be 
not  only  dry  but  very  dry.  Nothing  is  better  as  a  stand- 
ard fuel  than  sound  hard  wood  saw^ed  into  proper  lengths 
and  split  up  into  pieces  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick. 
The  only  objection  is  that  such  wood  is  rather  expensive, 
for  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  time  to  prepare  it.  ]\Iuch  the 
same  thing  without  the  cost  of  preparation  may  be  had  at 
any  woodpile  where  hard  wood  has  been  chopped — I 
mean  the  chips  to  be  found  there — and  that  has  been  the 
favorite  smoker-fuel  "in  this  locality"  for  some  time. 
When  the  w^eather  is  dry,  the  chips  may  be  picked  up  in 
the  chip-yard  and  filled  directly  into  the  smoker,  but  a 
stock  is  always  kept  on  hand  well  covered  up,  ready  to 
use  immediately  after  the  heaviest  shower  of  rain. 

■      '  SMOKER-KIXDLING. 

When  live  coals  are  at  hand  in  the  cook-stove,  noth- 
ing is  handier  than  to  put  a  few  of  them  in  the  smoker 
to  start  the  fire.  These  are  not  always  at  hand.  I  have 
used  for  kindling  carpenter's  shavings,  kerosene,  rotten 
wood  of  some  hard  wood,  especially  apple,  that  kind  of 
rotten  wood  that  is  somewhat  spongy  and  will  be  sure  to 
burn  if  the  least  spark  touches  it — all  these  have  given 
more  or  less  satisfaction,  but  nothing  quite  so  much  as 
saltpeter-rags.  Like  the  right  kind  of  rotten  wood,  the 
least  spark  will  light  a  salt-peter  rag  so  that  it  will  be 
sure  to  go,  but  it  is  not  so  slow  in  its  action  as  the  rotten 
wood,  and  makes  a  much  greater  heat,  so  that  chips  of 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  73 

sound  hard  wood  will  be  at  once  started  into  a  secure 
fire. 

SALTPETER-RAGS. 

To  prepare  the  saltpeter-rags  a  crock  is  kept  con- 
stantly standing,  containing  a  solution  of  saltpeter.     The 


Fig.  2S — Ready  for  Clipping. 

strength  of  the  solution  is  not  a  matter  of  great  nicety. 
A  quarter  or  half  a  pound  of  saltpeter  may  be  used  to  a 
gallon  of  water,  and  if  it  evaporates  so  that  the  solu- 
tion becomes  stronger,  water  may  be  added.  A  cotton 
rag  dipped  in  this  solution  will  be  ready  for  use  as  soon 
as  dried.  As  a  matter  of  convenience,  quite  a  lot  of  rags 
are  prepared  at  a  time.    They  are  wrung  out  of  the  solu- 


74  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

tion  and  spread  out  to  dry  in  the  sun,  and  when  thor- 
oughly dry  are  put  in  the  tool-basket,  which  always  con- 
tains a  supply.  AMien  taken  out  of  the  crock,  the  rags 
may  be  wrung  quite  dry,  thus  containing  not  so  much 
saltpeter,  or  they  may  be  wrung  out  just  enough  so  the 
liquid  will  not  run  off  on  the  ground  and  waste,  in  which 
condition  they  will  be  strongly  dosed  with  saltpeter. 

A  plentiful  supply  of  dry  smoker-fuel,  with  a  cor- 
responding stock  of  saltpeter-rags,  is  a  great  saving  of 
the  "disposition." 

POUXDIXG  BEES  OFF  COMBS.        *^ 

^Mention  was  made  of  getting  bees  off  combs.  Some- 
times shaking  is  used  altogether,  sometimes  brushing, 
and  sometimes  both.  The  weight  of  the  comb  has  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  manner  of  shaking.  The  most  of 
the  shaking — in  fact  all  of  the  shaking,  unless  the  combs 
be  very  heavy  or  the  bees  be  shaken  on  the  ground — is 
done  as  shown  in  Fig.  26.  Perhaps  it  might  better  be 
called  pounding  bees  off  the  comb.  The  comb  is  held 
by  the  corner  with  one  hand,  while  the  other  hand  pounds 
sharply  on  the  hand  that  holds  the  comb.  By  this  manner 
of  pounding  I  can  get  almost  every  bee  off  a  comb  with  a 
few  strokes,  unless  the  comb  be  too  heavy. 

doolittle's  plan  of  shaking.    "^ 

With  a  very  heavy  comb,  G.  M.  Doolittle's  plan  is 
better,  and  is  the  one  used.  Let  the  ends  of  the  top-bar 
be  supported  by  the  first  two  fingers  of  each  hand,  the 
thumbs  some  distance  above.  Keeping  the  thumb  and 
fingers  well  apart,  let  the  frame  drop,  and  as  it  drops 
strike  it  hard  with  the  balls  of  the  thumbs,  then  catch  it 
with  the  fingers,  raise  it  and  repeat  the  operation.  The 
bees  are  jarred  both  up  and  down,  and  don't  know  which 
way  to  brace  themselves  to  hold  on,  so  a  very  few  shakes 
will  get  most  of  them  off. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  75 


PENDULUM    PLAX   OF   SHAKING. 


y 


Often  it  is  desirable  to  shake  the  bees  back  into  the 
hive.  In  that  case  brushing  may  be  better  than  shaking, 
but  the  pounding  plan  serves  very  well.  A  space  may  be 
made  by  shoving  the  combs  apart,  and  the  frame  to  be 
pounded  held  well  down  in  the  hive.  But  many  times 
It  is  as  well  to  shake  the  bees  on  the  ground.  This  may 
not  be  so  advisable  if  the  queen  is  likely  to  be  among  the 
shaken  bees.  Yet  I  have  often  shaken  the  queen  off 
among  the  bees  on  the  ground,  and  I  am  not  sure  that 
she  ever  failed  to  find  her  way  with  the  bees  back  into 
the  hive.  \\'hen  the  Dees  are  to  be  shaken  on  the  ground 
the  pendulum  plan  is  used  almost  altogether.  With  the 
right  hand  I  take  hold  of  one  end  of  the  top-bar,  letting 
the  frame  hang  with  the  bottom-bar  pointing  forward, 
and  then  swinging  the  frame  backward  like  a  pendulum 
I  let  it  swing  again  forward,  and  then  as  it  falls  back  I 
let  the  lower  end  of  the  top-bar  strike  the  ground  in 
such  position  that  a  diagonal  from  the  point  that  strikes 
the  ground  to  the  opposite  end  of  the  bottom-bar  shall  be 
nearly  vertical.  It  is  easier  than  the  other  plans,  and 
takes  less  time. 

BEE-BRUSHES. 

Sometimes  it  is  not  desirable  to  get  all  the  bees  off, 
in  which  case,  or  with  very  light  combs,  no  brushing  is 
needed.  But  if  all  the  bees  are  to  be  cleaned  off,  and 
the  combs  are  not  very  light,  then  brushing  must  be  re- 
sorted to.  I  know  of  no  brush  better  than  one  made  of 
some  growing  plant,  such  as  asparagus,  sweet  clover, 
goldenrod,  aster,  etc.  Xo  little  bit  of  a  thing,  but  a  good, 
big  bunch,  well  tied  together  with  a  string  (Fig.  'IT). 

But  like  many  a  thing  that  costs  nothing,  these  weed 
brushes  are  too  expensive,  for  they  dry  up  so  that  a  fresh 
one  must  be  made  every  day,  and  that  takes  a  good  deal 
of  time.  So  I  generally  use  a  Coggshall  brush  (Fig.  28). 
The  essential  thing  about  a  Coggshall  brush  is  that  it 
must  be  made  of  long  broom-corn  with  a  very  thin  brush, 


76  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

and   not   trimmed  at   all   at   the   ends.      One   of  these   is 
always  in  the  tool-basket. 

Of  course  no  shaking  or  pounding  of  combs  is  admis- 
sible if  queen-cells  are  on  the  combs  that  are  considered 
of  any  value. 

TOOL-BASKET. 

The  tool-basket  spoken  of  is  simply  a  common  splint 
basket  (Fig.  29).  At  dififerent  times  I  have  had  differ- 
ent arrangements  for  carrying  the  things  most  generally 
needed,  at  least  two  different  tool-boxes  having  been 
made  for  that  special  purpose  with  separate  compart- 
ments for  the  various  articles.  But  the  basket  is  Hghter, 
and  although  things  get  a  little  mixed  up  in  it,  it  seems 
to  have  the  preference  at  present.  At  one  time  I  tried  to 
Ts:eep  an  outfit  at  each  apiary — smoker,  hive-tools,  etc. — 
so  that  there  should  be  no  need  to  carry  anything  from 
one  apiary  to  another,  but  one  gets  used  to  tools  and  pre- 
fers to  use  the  same  ones  day  after  day,  so  the  basket  is 
used. 

CONTEXTS    OF    TOOL-BASKET. 

Of  course,  the  number  of  objects  carried  in  a  basket 
must  be  somewhat  limited.  The  bulkiest  part  is  the 
apron,  sleeves  and  gloves  of  my  assistant.  The  record- 
book  must  always  be  present.  Then  there  will  be  smok- 
ers, hive-tools,  hammer,  cages,  matches  (although 
matches  are  always  kept  covered  with  the  fuel  in  each 
apiary),  saltpeter-rags,  nails,  and  any  other  light  objects 
that  may  happen  to  be  needed  at  any  particular  time.  Of 
course  there  will  be  heavier  articles,  not  convenient  to 
-carry  from  one  apiary  to  another,  and  each  apiary  must 
have  its  own,  as  a  hive  with  a  closed  entrance  and  a  rob- 
Tjer-cloth,  ready  to  contain  at  any  time  frames  of  brood 
or  honey  safe  from  robbers.  Generally,  however,  there 
will  be  no  need  to  be  so  careful  against  robbers,  and  the 
one  or  two  frames  lifted  out  of  a  hive  will  be  leaned 
np  against  it.  taking  pains  to  stand  any  frame  where  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  77 

hot  rays  of  the  sun  may  not  strike  too  directly  upon  it^ 
and  to  stand  it  np  straight  enough  so  it  will  not  sag  with 
its  own  weight. 

RESTING  FRAME  DIAGOXALLY  IX    HIVE. 

A\'ith  one  frame  out  of  the  hive  there  will  be  rooiu 
enough  for  the  rest  to  be  moved  about  in  the  hive,  and 
returned  to  it  as  soon  as  examined.     Sometimes  when  it 


Fig.   24 — C  lipping  the  Queen. 

is  desired  to  set  a  frame  back  in  the  hive  very  quickly,, 
or  when  a  queen  has  been  caught  and  is  held  in  the 
fingers,  so  that  the  frame  must  be  handled  by  one  hand,  it 
is  convenient  to  set  the  frame  in  the  hive  resting  diag- 
onally, as  shown  in  Fig.  36.  The  frame  is  lowerd  till 
one  end  of  the  top-bar  rests  upon  one  rabbet,  and  then 
the  bottom-bar  is  allowed  to  rest  upon  the  other  rabbet. 
Perhaps  oftener,  however,  I  use  both  hands  to  handle 
a  frame,  even  while  holding  a  queen  in  one  hand.  While 
searching  for  the  queen  the  frame  is  held  in  both  hands^ 


78  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

and  as  soon  as  she  is  seen  the  end  of  the  frame  held  bv 
the  right  hand  is  rested  upon  the  hive,  the  right  hand 
catches  the  queen,  and  she  is  then  allowed  to  run  upon 
the  leg  of  my  trousers,  upon  the  thigh  (it  is  an  exceed- 
ingly rare  thing  that  a  laying  queen  will  offer  to  fly), 
and  then  I  catch  her  in  the  hollow^  of  my  right  hand, 
holding  her  in  the  hollow  formed  by  the  three  fingers, 
while  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger  I  am  free  to  handle 
the  frame  at  leisure. 

BEES    BALLING    QUEEN. 

When  a  colony  is  being  oyerhauled,  it  sometimes 
happens  that  the  queen  is  found  balled.  This  balling 
is  likely  more  because  the  colony,  being  frightened,  is 
seeking  to  protect  the  queen  than  because  of  any  hostility 
to  her.  Fig.  30  shows  a  queen  thus  balled,  or  rather  the 
balling  bees  are  shown,  the  queen  being  hidden  by  them. 
The  ball  is  small,  whereas  a  ball  of  bees  bent  on  the  de- 
struction of  a  strange  queen  is  likely  to  be  as  large  as  a 
hickory-nut,  or  larger. 

Whether  the  object  of  the  bees  be  to  protect  the 
queen  or  not,  anything  that  tends  to  excite  them  suffi- 
ciently may  lead  them  to  do  violence  to  the  queen.  So 
when  I  find  the  queen  thus  balled,  I  ahvays  close  the 
hive  immediately,  not  generally  touching  it  again  till 
the  next  day,  when  everything  will  be  found  all  right. 

MAKING   REC'ORDS.        »/ 

After  the  overhauling  of  a  colony  is  completed,  a 
record  thereof  must  be  made.  If  Alay  10,  1902,  should 
be  the  date  of  the  visit,  and  if  I  should  clip  the  queen  at 
that  visit,  I  would  make  the  entry,  "May  10  cl  q  (01)," 
which  means  that  I  clipped  the  queen  May  10,  and  that 
she  was  a  queen  reared  in  1901.  If,  later  in  the  season, 
I  should  clip  a  queen  reared  that  same  season,  the  entry 
would  be,  "cl  q  (02),"  meaning  that  the  queen  was  reared 
in  1902.     In  either  case  the  year  of  the  birtji  of  the  old 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  79 

qreen  in  the  left-hand  margin  has  a  hne  drawn  through  it, 
and  the  birth-year  of  the  new  queen  is  written  under  it. 
If  I  find  a  cHpped  queen  in  the  hive,  then  the  entry  is,  ''q 
cl,"  which  means  the  queen  was  already  clipped.  It 
might  not  seem  important  to  enter  that  the  queen  was  al- 
ready clipped,  but  if  I  do  not  find  her  the  first  or  second 
time  looking  over  the  combs  I  leave  it  till  another  day, 
leaving  a  blank  after  the  date,  and  that  keeps  me  in  mind 
of  the  fact  that  I  have  not  yet  seen  the  queen. 

After  clipping  the  wing  of  the  queen  I  put  her  on 
the  top  of  a  frame  directly  over  the  brood-nest.  If  you 
hold  her  on  your  finger  over  the  brood-nest  she  displays 
a  great  degree  of  perverseness  and  persists  in  crawling 
up  your  hand,  right  away  from  her  proper  home.  So  I 
let  her  crawl  upon  a  leaf,  little  stick  or  other  object,  lay 
this  on  the  frames,  and  she  will  directly  go  down  into  the 
cluster. 

Xot  always,  however.  Too  often  she  will  run  about 
over  the  tops  of  the  frames,  and  even  over  the  side  of  the 
hive,  and  when  thus  excited  there  is  some  danger  she  may 
be  balled  when  she  gets  down  in  the  hive.  So  I  like  bet- 
ter to  have  a  frame  of  brood  covered  with  bees,  lying  flat, 
or  held  flat  by  an  assistant,  and  then  I  drop  the  queen 
right  among  the  bees  on  the  middle  of  the  comb. 

On  this  first  visit  I  also  generally  enter  in  the  rec- 
ord-book the  amount  of  brood  present.  If  the  record  is 
"2  br,"  or  "3  br,"  it  means  that  two  combs  or  three  combs 
are  fairly  well  filled  with  brood — at  least  half  filled  with 
brood.  If  the  record  is  "br  in  2,''  that  means  that  brood 
is  found  in  two  combs,  but  that  at  least  one  of  them  is 
less  than  half  full.  So  you  will  see  that  "br  in  3"  might 
be  a  good  deal  less  than  "2  br,"  for  "2  br"  might  mean 
two  very  full  combs,  and  at  the  least  will  be  as  much  as 
one  very  full  comb,  while  "br  in  3"  may  mean  that  there 
is  only  a  nttle  spot  of  brood  in  each  of  three  combs. 

Any  other  item  that  needs  especial  mention  will  be 
recorded,  but  generally  there  is  no  record  made  beyond 
those  mentioned. 


80  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

MENDING    COMBS.     ^ 

In  handling  the  combs,  if  any  are  found  with  drone- 
comb  or  with  holes  in  them,  and  if  we  are  not  too 
crowded  for  time,  the  defects  are  remedied.  \'ery  Hkely 
I  may  turn  over  these  combs  to  my  assistant,  who  mends 
them  before  they  are  returned  to  the  hive.  The  usual 
plan  is  to  mend  them  in  this  way : 

She  takes  a  common  tea-knife  with  a  thin,  narrow, 
sharp  blade,  cuts  out  the  piece  of  drone-comb  if  the  hole 
is  not  already  made,  lays  the  frame  over  a  piece  of 
worker-comb,  (this  piece  of  worker-comb  may  be  the  part 
or  whole  of  some  old  or  objectionable  comb),  wnth  the 
point  of  the  knife  marks  out  the  exact  size  and  shape  of 
the  hole,  removes  the  frame,  cuts  out  the  piece  and  crowds 
it  into  the   hole. 

Or,  the  following  plan  may  be  used,  especially  if 
the  frame  is  wired:  After  the  hole  is  made,  (the  mice 
have  probably  made  the  holes  in  the  wired  frames),  the 
cells  on  one  side  are  cut  away  to  the  base  for  a  distance 
of  ^  to  ^  inch  from  the  hole,  and  a  piece  of  foundation 
cut  to  the  right  size  is  placed  over  the  hole  and  the  edge 
pressed  down  upon  the  base  that  surrounds  the  hole.  The 
foundation  must  not  be  too  cold.  Before  fall  these 
patches  cannot  be  detected,  unless  by  the  lighter  color 
where  the  foundation  has  been  used. 

HIVES   AND   FRAMES. 

Xow  that  the  apiary  is  all  in  running  order,  you  may 
want  to  take  a  look  at  it.  You  "don't  think  it  looks  re- 
markably neat?"  Neither  do  I.  If  I  had  only  a  dozen 
colonies  and  were  keeping  them  for  the  pleasure  of  it,  I 
should  have  their  hives  painted,  perhaps  ornamented  with 
scroll  work,  but  please  remember  that  I  am  keeping  them 
for  profit,  and  I  cannot  afford  anything  for  looks.  I  sup- 
pose they  would  last  longer  if  painted,  but  hardly  enough 
longer  to  pay  for  the  paint.  Besides,  in  the  many  changes 
constantly  taking  place,  how  do  I  know  that  I  may  not 
want  to  throw  these  aside  and  adopt  a  new  hive  ? 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


31 


CHAXGES  IX  HIVES. 


I  have  already  changed  five  times,  having  begun  in 
18(31  with  a  full-sized  sugar-barrell,  changing  the  next 
3ear  to  Quinby  box-hives,  then  to  a  movable-frame  hive 
made  by  J.  F.  Lester,  and  afterward  when  J.  A'ander- 
vort,  the  foundation-mill  man.  came  and  lived  perhaps  a 


vear  in  ]\Iarengo,  I  bous^ht  out  his  stock  of  hiv 


I  sup- 


Fii 


-Home  from   the  Out-Apiary. 


posed  they  were  the  exact  Langstroth  pattern,  but  they 
had  frames  18  x  9  inches,  not  different  enough  to  make 
any  appreciable  dift'erence  in  results,  but  different  enough 
so  that  they  were  not  standard,  and  after  I  had  a  few  thou- 
sands of  them  on  hand  and  wanted  to  change  to  the 
regular  Langstroth  size,  the  trouble  I  had  would  be  hard 
to  describe.  I  still  have  some  of  them,  but  not  in  regular 
use.  These  hives  were  10-frame,  and  in  course  of  time 
I  cut  them  down  and  made  them  8-frame.  Then  I 
changed  to  the  8-frame  dovetailed  hive,  and  I  don't  know 
what  the  next  change  will  be. 


82  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

Another  reason  for  not  painting  hives  is  that  I  am 
afraid  bees  do  not  do  quite  so  well  in  painted  as  in  im- 
painted  hives,  especially  in  winter. 

Except  the  full-sized  cleat  already  mentioned  on  each 
end,  my  hives  are  the  regular  dovetailed.  But  the  frames 
are  Miller  frames. 

LOOSE-HANGING   FRAMES. 

For  a  good  many  years  handling  frames  was  much 
slower  work  than  it  is  today,  because  for  a  good  many 
years  I  had  loose-hanging  frames.  In  moving  the  frames 
from  one  side  of  the  hive  toward  the  other,  each  frame 
had  to  be  moved  separately.  It  would  not  do  to  shove 
two  or  more  at  a  time,  because  in  so  doing  bees  would  be 
mashed  between  the  frames.  Then  when  the  frames  were 
returned  to  place  each  one  had  to  be  carefully  adjusted, 
judging  by  the  eye  when  it  was  at  the  right  distance  from 
its  neighbor.  This  was  slow  work,  and  when  done  with 
the  utmost  care  it  was  only  approximately  exact.  There 
was  no  dummy  to  lift  out  to  make  extra  room  ;  and  the 
frames  had  to  be  crowded  together  so  as  to  make  room  to 
get  a  first  frame  out.  That  disarranged  the  spacing  of 
several  of  the  frames,  even  if  there  were  no  other  occasion 
for  disarranging  them. 

SELF-SPACING   FRAMES. 

Then  there  came  a  time  of  struggling  for  some  self- 
spacing  arrangement,  closed-end,  partly-closed-end,  and 
what  not.  I  tried  a  good  many  different  kinds.  Closed- 
ends  were  probablv  warmer  for  wintering,  and  were  cer- 
tainly self-spacing,  but  it  took  time  to  avoid  killing  bees, 
and  the  trouble  with  propolis  was  no  small  matter.  Half 
closed-ends  were  the  san:e  in  kind,  only  different  in  de- 
gree. 

Of  these  last  the  Hoffman  is  probably  the  most  popu- 
lar, and  I  put  in  use  enough  to  fill  a  few  hives,  and  some 
of  them  are   still  in  use.     When  new   they   work  very 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  83 

nicely,  but  as  propolis  accumulates  the  difficulty  of  han- 
dling increases,  and  the  frames  become  more  and  more 
crowded,  until  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  out  the 
dummy,  the  easier  thing  being  to  pry  out  with  a  good 
deal  of  force  the  first  frame,  either  with  or  without  the 
dummy.  Indeed,  the  difficulty  of  getting  out  the  frames 
is  so  great,  that  the  sight  of  a  set  of  Hoffman  frames 
when  the  cover  is  removed  always  produces  something 
like  a  shudder. 

Although  I  could  not  have  anything  in  the  line  of 
closed-ends,  I  wanted  the  advantage  of  the  self-spacing, 
and  not  finding  anything  on  the  market  to  suit  me  I  was, 
in  a  manner,  compelled  to  adopt  something  of  my  own 
"get-up."  and  so  for  several  years  I  have  used  with  much 
satisfaction  the  Miller  frame  (Fig.  95). 

MILLER  FRAME. 

The  frame  is  of  course  of  the  regular  Langstroth 
size.  lT^sx9^.  Top-bar,  bottom-bar,  and  end-bars  are 
uniform  in  width,  1^  inches  throughout  their  whole  di- 
mensions. The  top-bar  is  />§  inch  thick,  with  the  usual 
saw-kerf  to  receive  the  foundation,  and  close  beside  this 
is  another  kerf  to  receive  the  wedge  that  fastens  in  the 
foundation.  The  length  of  the  top-bar  is  IS^^g  inches, 
and  y%  X  9-16  is  rabbeted  out  of  each  end  to  receive  the 
end-bar.  The  end-bar  is  8  9-16xl^x^'8-  The  bottom- 
bar  consists  of  tw^o  pieces,  each  IT^^x^x^^.  This 
allows  )4,  inch  between  the  two  parts  to  receive  the  foun- 
dation, making  the  bottom-bar  1^  inches  wide  when 
nailed. 

In  Fig.  95  the  frame  is  upside  down,  one-half  of  the 
bottom-bar  nailed  on,  the  other  half  above,  while  below 
is  seen  the  long  strip  that  serves  as  a  wedge  to  fasten  in 
the  foundation. 

Some  of  my  latest  frames,  however,  have  the  bot- 
tom-bar in  one  piece,  1^  inches  wide,  and  T'm  not  sure 
but  I  prefer  them.  The  only  object  in  having  the  bot- 
tom-bar in  two  pieces  is  the  convenience  of  an  exact  fit 


84 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


of  the  foundation  without  the  trouble  of  cutting  it  care- 
fully to  the  right  size.  A\'ith  the  bottom-bar  all  in  one 
piece,  the  foundation  fitting  down  close  upon  it.  and 
melted  wax  run  along  the  joint,  the  bees  may  be  les> 
inclined  to  gnaw  a  passage  under  the  foundation  than 
with  the  double  bottom-bar  without  the  melted  wax. 

SPACIXG-NAILS.      y 

The  side-spacing,  which  holds  the  frame  at  the  proper 
distance  from  its  next  neighbor,  is  accomplished  by  means 


Fig.  26 — Pounding  Bees  Off  Comb. 


of  comm.on  wire-nails.  These  nails  are  IV4  inches  long 
and  rather  heavy,  about  3-32  inch  in  thickness,  with  a  head 
less  than  one-fourth  inch  across.  By  means  of  a  wooden 
gauge  which  allows  them  to  be  driven  only  to  a  fixed 
depth,  they  are  driven  in  to  such  a  depth  that  the  head 
remains  projecting  out  a  fourth  of  an  inch. 

Each  frame  has  four  spacing-nails.     A  nail  is  driven 
into  each  end  of  the  top-bar  on  opposite  'sides,  the  nail 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES  85 

being  about  an  inch  and  a  half  from  the  extreme  end  of 
the  top-bar,  and  a  fourth  of  an  inch  from  its  upper  sur- 
face. About  two  and  a  fourth  inches  from  the  bottom 
of  the  frame  a  nail  is  driven  into  each  end-bar,  these  nails 
being  also  on  opposite  sides.  Hold  the  frame  up  before 
you  in  its  natural  position,  each  hand  holding  one  end  of 
the  top-bar,  and  the  two  nails  at  the  right  end  will  be  on 
the  side  from  you,  while  the  two  nails  at  the  left  end  will 
be  on  the  side  nearest  to  you. 

The  object  of  having  the  nails  so  heavy  is  so  that 
they  may  not  be  driven  farther  into  the  w^ood  when  the 
frames  are  crowded  hard  together.  Once  in  a  great  while 
the  wood  is  split  by  having  so  heavy  a  nail  driven,  and  if 
such  a  nail  could  be  obtained  it  would  be  better  to  have  a 
lighter  nail  with  a  head  a  fourth  of  an  inch  thick,  so  that 
it  could  be  driven  automatically  to  place  without  the  need 
of  a  gauge,  and  without  the  possibility  of  being  driven 
farther  in  by  any  amount  of  crow^ding. 

I  have  never  tried  the  metal  spacers  now  used  on 
what  are  still  called  Hoffman  frames,  but  it  seems  to  me 
they  must  be  an  immense  improvement  over  the  original 
Hoffman  frames,  such  as  I  had.  I  think,  however,  I 
should  still  prefer  such  a  nail  as  I  have  mentioned,  be- 
cause there  is  less  opposing  surface,  and  so  less  chance 
for  propolis.     Such  nails  are  in  use  in  Europe. 

Objection  has  been  made  to  metal  spacers  because 
they  are  in  the  way  of  the  uncapping  knife.  But  why 
should  I,  who  do  not  use  an  uncapping  knife,  be  denied 
the  frame  that  is  best  for  my  use,  because,  forsooth,  it 
doesn't  suit  an  uncapper?  Y^et  I  must  say  I  am  very 
skeptical  as  to  the  objections  to  metal  spacers  on  even 
extracting  frames.  The  spacers  are  only  at  one  end  of 
the  frame  at  each  side,  and  if  the  knife  starts  at  the 
spacer-end  it  does  not  seem  necssary  to  dull  it  on  the 
spacers.  I  have  tried  it  enough  to  form  something  of  an 
opinion,  and  I  have  been  told  by  those  who  ought  to  know 
that  the  objection  is  a  thing  largely  of  imagination. 


86  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

END-SPACING.    / 

The  end-Spacing  is  done  by  means  of  the  usual 
frame  staple,  about  three-eighths  of  an  inch  wide.  The 
staple  is  driven  into  the  end-bar,  immediately  under  the 
lug  of  the  top-bar.  This  lug  being  only  half  an  inch  long, 
there  is  room  for  a  bee  to  pass  between  the  end  of  the 
lug  and  the  upper  edge  of  the  hive-end,  so  no  propolis  is 
deposited  there.  I  like  this  feature  as  much  as  some 
dislike  it.  They  complain  that  with  so  short  a  top-bar  the 
frames  drop  down  in  the  hive — a  nuisance  not  to  be  tol- 
erated. I  do  not  have  that  trouble,  although  the  hold 
of  the.  top-bar  on  the  tin  support  is  so  slight  that  if  the 
work  were  not  exact  I  can  easily  imagine  the  frames 
dropping  down.  Possibly  those  who  complain  do  not 
have  very  exact  work.  I  am  not  sure  but  I  would  put  up 
with  a  little  dropping  down  of  frames,  rather  than  to 
have  the  ends  of  the  top-bars  glued. 

It  will  be  seen  that  while  the  frames  are  automat- 
ically spaced  very  firmly,  the  points  of  contact  are  so 
small  that  the  frames  are  always  easily  movable.  Those 
points  of  contact  are  the  thin  metal  edges  upon  which  the 
top-bars  rest,  the  two  end-staples,  and  the  four  nail- 
heads.  The  same  spacing  is  in  use  in  other  frames,  only 
staples  are  used  for  side-spacing  instead  of  nails.  The 
staples  do  not  seem  quite  so  substantial,  and  there  is 
more  danger,  when  the  frames  are  crowded  hard  to- 
gether, that  the  staples  may  be  driven  in  deeper,  or  that 
the  head  of  the  staple  may  dig  into  the  adjoining  wood. 

The  top-bar  and  end-bar  being  1%  wide,  and  the 
spacing  of  the  nails  54  bich,  the  frames  are  spaced  just 
1^  from  center  to  center.  It  is  just  possible  that  a  little 
wider  spacing  than  1^  might  be  better,  but  1^  is  the 
general  fashion,  and  so  far  as  possible  I  like  to  adopt 
standard  goods.  I  may  be  asked,  then,  why  I  should  use 
a  frame  not  regularly  made  by  manufacturers.  Possibly 
prejudice  has  a  little  to  do  in  the  case,  but  I  think  the 
Miller   frame   enough   better   than   anything   I    can   find 


FIFTY  YEARS    A.MOXG  THE  BEES  87 

listed,  that  I  prefer  to  be  out  of  fashion  so  long  as  I  can 
find  nothing  listed  that  is  quite  close  to  what  I  want. 

usinXt  standard  goods. 

In  general  I  think  it  is  best  to  adopt  standard  goods. 
They  can  be  more  cheaply  made,  and  it  is  more  con- 
venient to  get  them.     It  cost  me  no  small  sum  to  change 


Fis. 


-U^eed   Brushes. 


my  frames  so  little  as  to  make  them  only  9/3  of  an  inch 
less  in  length  and  an  eighth  of  an  inch  more  in  depth, 
but  I  made  the  change,  and  made  it  solely  because  my 
frames  were  not  of  standard  size.  Years  ago  I  changed 
from  four-piece  to  one-piece  sections  solely  because  I 
wanted  to  be  in  fashion,  although  I  think  I  prefer  the  one- 
piece  now. 

WORKING   FOR  IMPROVEMENT. 


At  the  same  time  it  is  one's  privilege — perhaps  one's 
duty — to  make  some  effort  toward  improvement,  if  one 


88  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 

can  only  keep  from  thinking  that  a  thing  is  necessarily 
an  improvement  because  it  is  different  from  what  has 
been.  The  things  and  plans  gotten  up  by  me  that  were 
different  from  others  would  make  a  pretty  long  list. 
Unfortunately,  a  full  trial  has  in  most  cases  convinced 
me  that  my  supposed  improvements  were  no  improve- 
ments at  all,  and  so  they  were  cast  aside.  A  few,  how- 
ever, have  stood  the  test ;  the  ^Miller  feeder  and  the  ]\Iiller 
introducing  cage  having  become  standard  articles  on  the 
price-lists,  while  bottom-starters,  the  robber-cloth,  bot- 
tom-board, and  some  other  things  have  had  from  my 
brother  bee-keepers  a  reception  of  which  I  have 
no  reason  to  complain.  While  the  tendency  towards 
something  different  needs  to  be  kept  in  bounds  it  would 
be  a  sad  thing  if  no  changes  had  been  made,  and  we  were 
set  back  just  where  we  were  a  quarter  or  a  half  cen- 
tury ago. 


GETTING   COMBS    BUILT  DOWX    TO   BOTTOM-BARS. 


/ 


While  upon  the  subject  of  frames,  I  may  as  well  tell 
how^  I  manage  to  have  them  entirely  filled  with  straight 
combs  which  are  built  out  to  the  end-bars  and  clear  down 
to  the  bottom-bars,  a  thing  I  experimented  upon  for  a 
long  time  before  reaching  success.  The  foundation  is  cut 
so  as  to  make  a  close  fit  in  length,  and  the  width  is  about 
half  an  inch  more  than  the  inside  depth  of  the  frame. 
The  frame  is  all  complete  except  that  one  of  the  two 
pieces  of  the  bottom-bar  is  not  yet  nailed  on.  The  frame 
is  laid  on  a  board  of  the  usual  kind,  which  fits  inside  the 
frame  and  has  stops  on  the  edges  so  that  when  founda- 
tion is  laid  on  the  board  it  will  lie  centrally  in  the  frame. 
The  half  of  the  bottom-bar  that  is  nailed  on  lies  on  the 
under  side.  The  foundation  is  put  in  place,  and  one  edge 
is  crowded  into  the  saw-kerf  in  the  top-bar.  Then  the 
lacking  half  of  the  bottom-bar  is  put  in  place,  and  a  light 
nail  at  the  middle  is  driven  down  through  both  parts. 
Then  the  frame  is  raised  and  the  ends  of  the  two  halves 
of  the  bottom-bar  are  squeezed  together  st)  as  to  pinch 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


89 


the  foundation,  and  nailed  there.     Then  the  usual  wedge 
is  wedged  into  the  fine  saw-kerf  in  the  top-bar. 

As  already  said.  I  am  not  sure  but  it  is  just  as  well, 
or  better,  to  have  the  bottom-bar  in  one  piece,  with  the 
foundation  cut  to  fit  close  upon  it. 

FOUXDATIOX  SPLINTS,  v^ 

Xow  we  are  ready  for  the  important  part.  Little 
sticks  or  splints  about  1-10  of  an  inch  square,  and  about 


Fig.  28 — Coggshall  Brush. 


Yx  inch  shorter  than  the  inside  depth  of  the  frame,  are 
thrown  into  a  square  shallow  tin  pan  that  contains  hot 
beeswax.  They  will  froth  up  because  of  the  moisture 
frying  out  of  them.  \\'hen  the  frothing  ceases,  and  the 
splints  are  saturated  with  wax.  then  they  are  ready  for 
use.  The  frame  of  foundation  is  laid  on  the  board  as 
before  :  with  a  pair  of  plyers  a  splint  is  lifted  out  of  the 
wax  (kept  just  hot  enough  over  a  gasoline  stove),  and 
placed  upon  the  foundation   so  that  the  splint  shall  be 


90  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

perpendicular  when  the  frame  is  hung  in  the  hive.  As 
fast  as  a  spHnt  is  laid  in  place,  an  assistant  immediately 
presses  it  down  into  the  foundation  w^ith  the  wetted  edge 
of  a  board.  About  1^  inches  from  each  end-bar  is 
placed  a  splint,  and  between  these  tw^o  splints  three  others 
at  equal  distances  (Fig.  31).  When  these  are  built  out 
they  make  beautiful  combs,  and  the  splints  do  not  seem  to 
be  at  all  in  the  way  (Fig.  32). 

Five  splints  in  a  frame  works  all  right  for  medium 
brood  foundation,  but  in  1909  I  filled  a  number  of  frames 
with  light  brood  foundation,  and  used  seven  splints  in  a 
frame. 

A  little  experience  will  enable  one  to  judge,  when 
putting  in  the  splints,  how  hot  to  keep  the  wax.  If  too 
hot  there  will  be  too  light  a  coating  of  wax. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  the  mere  use  of  these 
splints  will  under  any  and  all  circumstances  result  in 
faultless  combs  built  securely  down  to  the  bottom-bar.  It 
seems  to  be  the  natural  thing  for  bees  to  leave  a  free 
passage  under  the  comb,  no  matter  whether  the  thing 
that  comes  next  below  the  comb  be  the  floor-board  of  the 
hive  or  the  bottom-bar  of  the  frame.  So  if  a  frame  be 
given  wdien  little  storing  is  going  on,  the  bees  will  de- 
liberately dig  away  the  foundation  at  the  bottom ;  and 
even  if  it  has  been  built  down  but  the  cells  not  very  fully 
drawn  out,  they  will  do  more  or  less  at  gnawing  a  pass- 
age. To  make  a  success,  the  frames  should  be  given  at 
a  time  when  work  shall  go  on  uninterruptedly  until  full- 
depth  cells  reach  the  bottom-bar. 

In  Fig.  o2  will  be  seen  two  such  frames  of  splinted 
foundation  that  have  been  built  out  and  filled  with  honey. 
1  he  upper  one  is  built  out  solid  to  the  frame  all  around, 
while  the  lower  one  has  a  hole  at  one  of  the  lower  corners, 
through  which  a  queen  can  play  hide-and-seek. 

In  Fig.  33  are  two  that  have  been  built  out  and  filled 
with  brood.  They  are  built  out  solid  to  the  w^ood,  except- 
ing one  hole  in  each  at  one  of  the  lower  corners,  but  these 
two  holes  are  covered  up  by  the  fingers  so  that  you  cannot 
see  them.     Look  carefullv  at  the  frame  at  the  left  hand, 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  91 

and  you  will  see  at  least  three  places  where  the  capping  is 
slightly  elevated,  because  of  the  splints  beneath. 

BROOD    TO    THE    TOP-BAR. 

Incidentally  your  attention  may  be  called  to  this 
comb  as  a  fine  specimen  of  one  well  filled  with  brood.  It 
is  literally  iillcd.  all  the  cells,  sealed  and  unsealed,  contain- 
ing brood.  It  shows  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  shal- 
low frames  to  have  brood  clear  to  the  top-bar.  At  the 
time  when  it  is  desired  to  get  bees  to  start  work  in  sec- 
tions, the  brood  will  be  up  so  high  in  the  combs  that  bees 
will  start  in  the  sections  just  as  promptly  with  standard 
frames  as  with  those  that  are  shallower.  After  the  bees 
have  been  at  work  storing  for  some  time,  the  brood  in  the 
standard  frame  will  not  be  as  near  the  top-bar  as  in  a 
shallow  frame,  but  that  will  be  no  hindrance  to  the  con- 
iiiiuance  of  storing  in  supers. 

For  a  long  tin:e  it  puzzled  me  to  understand  why 
others  should  say  that  in  a  Langstroth  frame  a  space  of 
one  or  two  inches  would  be  left  under  the  top-bar  where 
no  brood  would  be  reared,  while  in  my  hives,  in  the 
height  of  brood-rearing,  frame  after  frame  would  be 
filled  with  brood  clear  to  the  top-bar.  It  was  urged  that 
the  trouble  arose  because  the  frame  was  too  deep.  Fi- 
nally it  was  suggested  that  horizontal  wiring  allowed 
enough  saggiing  so  that  the  upper  cells  were  stretched 
just  enough  so  they  would  not  be  used  for  brood.  In  my 
frames,  with  forndation-splints,  there  was  no  chance  for 
stretching,  and  so  the  row  of  cells  next  to  the  top-bar 
and  bottom-bar  could  alike  be  used  by  the  cjueen. 

Even  if  brood  were  not  reared  in  the  upper  part  of  a 
Langstroth  frame.  I  should  still  prefer  that  depth  for 
comb  honey,  whatever  might  be  true  as  to  extracted 
honey.  At  one  time  I  had  two  hives  with  shallow  frames, 
and  the  amount  of  pollen  in  sections  filled  over  those 
shallow  frames  was  greater  than  in  all  the  other  thou- 
sands of  sections  filled  over  the  Langstroth  frames. 

Please  do  not  understand  that  all  my  combs  look  like 
the  four  in  Figs.  32  and  33.     ]\Iany  of  them  do,  but  more 


'j:i  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

do  not,  because  so  many  of  them  were  built  in  seasons  of 
comparative  dearth. 

There  is  another  way  to  get  combs  built  down  to  the 
bottom-bar.  Suppose  you  have  a  comb  with  a  passage- 
way under  it  more  or  less  of  its  length.  Cut  it  free  from 
the  bottom-bar,  and  then  cut  straight  across  an  inch  or 
more  above  the  bottom-bar ;  then  turn  this  piece  upside 
down  and  let  it  rest  on  the  bottom-bar.  The  bees  wall 
immediately  fasten  this  piece  to  the  bottom-bar  (of  course 
it  must  be  at  a  time  when  bees  are  working  freely),  and 
very  soon  they  will  fill  in  the  gap  above  the  piece. 

HIVE-DUMMY.      •/ 

A  good  dummy  is  a  matter  of  no  light  importance.  It 
is  handy  to  fill  up  vacant  space,  its  chief  use  being  to  make 
an  easy  thing  of  removing  the  first  comb  from  a  hive. 
With  self-spacing  frames  there  can  be  no  crowding  to- 
gether of  the  frames  so  as  to  give  one  of  them  extra  room, 
as  is  the  case  with  loose-hanging  frames,  and  if  a  hive  be 
filled  full  of  self-spacing  frames  it  will  be  about  impossible 
to  remove  the  first  frame  after  a  fair  amount  of  propolis 
is  present.     A  dummy  at  one  side  is  the  thing  to  help  out. 

An  eight-frame  dovetailed  hive  is  12^  inches  wide 
inside.  Eight  frames  spaced  l}i  inches  from  center  to 
center  will  occupy  11  inches,  leaving  at  one  side  a  space 
of  1^  inches,  abundance  of  room  to  lift  out  the  first 
frame  easily.  A  dummy  put  into  that  space  will  keep  the 
bees  from  filling  it  up  with  comb,  and  it  ought  never  to  be 
difficult  to  lift  out  the  dummy.  If  a  dummy  a  trifle  more 
than  a  fourth  of  an  inch  thick  be  put  in,  leaving  a  fourth 
of  an  inch  between  dummy  and  frame,  there  will  be  left 
between  the  dummy  and  the  side  of  the  hive  a  space  of  a 
little  more  than  half  an  inch,  a  space  that  the  bees  will 
never  fill  with  comb  in  such  a  place.  As  propolis  accu- 
mulates, however,  this  space  will  become  less. 

The  dummy  should  be  light  and  at  the  same  time 
quite  substantial,  and  the  one  I  use  fulfills  these  require- 
ments (Fig.  42).  The  principal  board  of  the  dummy  is 
IGys  X  8}i  X  5-16,  of  pine.     The  other  parts  are  of  some 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMOXG  THE  BEES  '.i:> 

tougher  wood.     The  top-bar  is  18J/^  x  5-lG  x  5-l(i.     Each 
end-cleat  is  8^  x  >4  x  5-lG. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  dummy  is  neither  so  long  nor 
deep  as  a  frame.  That  makes  it  easier  to  handle,  and  be- 
ing at  the  side  of  the  hive  it  never  makes  any  trouble. 
If  I  were  making  new  dummies.  I  think  I  world  make 


Fig.   29 — Tool-Basket. 

the  principal  board  15  inches  long  instead  of  l(i>^.  It 
would  be  easier  to  handle,  and  bees  are  little  inclined  to 
fill  in  comb  at  the  ends  of  the  dummy.  \Miile  the  cut-off 
top-bars  in  the  frames  work  nicely,  they  do  not  work  so 
well  in  dummies,  as  I  found  upon  trying  a  number  of 
them. 

HIVE-COVERS. 

At  the  risk  of  losing  caste  as  a  bee-keeper,  I  ani 
obliged  to  confess  that  I  never  got  up  "a  hive  of  my  own." 
never  even  tried  to  plan  one,  but  I  have  tried  no  little 
to  get  up  a  hive-cover  to  suit  me.  A  hive  is  so  seldom 
moved  that  I  care  less  for  its  weight,  but  when  I,  or,  more 
particularlv,  my  female  assistants,  have  to  lift  covers  all 


94  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

day  long,  when  hot  and  tired,  a  pound  difference  in 
weight  is  quite  an  item.  The  first  covers  I  had  for 
movable-frame  hives  were  S  inches  deep  and  weighed 
about  18  pounds.  Xeedless  to  detail  the  different  covers 
I  have  devised  and  tried,  with  upper  surface  of  tin,  oil- 
cloth, and  wood,  painted  and  unpainted.  Although  I 
don't  paint  hive-bodies,  I  want  covers  painted.  Some  of 
my  covers  just  at  present  are  the  common  plain  board 
cover,  and  I  don't  like  them.  Some  of  them  are  of  two 
hoards  united  at  the  middle  by  a  A'-shaped  tin  slid  into 
saw-kerfs,  and  I  like  these  still  less.  A  new  board  cover 
is  a  nice  thing.  After  a  little  it  warps,  and  then  it  isn't  a 
nice  thing.  Put  a  cleat  on  each  end  so  it  cannot  warp — 
cast-iron  cleats,  if  you  like — and  it  will  twist  so  that  there 
will  be  a  grinning  opening  at  one  corner  to  allow  bees  to 
walk  out  and  cold  to  walk  in,  to  say  nothing  of  robber- 
bees. 

TIX    COVERS    WITH    DEAD- AIR    SPACE. 

I  have  fifty  covers  that  I  like  very  much.  They  are 
double-board  covers,  the  boards  being  ^  thick,  the  grain 
of^the  upper  and  lower  boards  running  in  opposite  direc- 
tions, with  a  ^  dead-air  space  between  them  :  at  least  it 
world  be  dead-air  if  it  were  not  for  cracks,  and  I  do  not 
consider  the  cracks  a  necessary  part  if  the  covers  were 
properly  made.  The  whole  is  covered  with  tin  and 
painted  white.  The  lower  surface  is  perfectlv  flat,  with 
no  cleat  projecting  downward,  for  such  cleats  do  not  help 
rapid  and  easy  handling.  Such  a  cover  is  light,  safe  from 
warping  and' twisting,  is  cooler  in  summer  than  the  plain 
board  cover,  and  warmer  in  winter.  The  greatest  objec- 
tion is  the  cost ;  I  think  they  cost  25  cents  or  more  each. 

Two  of  these  tin  covers  will  be  seen  at  Fig.  37,  the 
o::e  at  the  right  showing  the  under  surface  of  the  cover. 

ZIXC   COVERS. 

Fifty  other  covers  are  made  on  the^same  plan  and 
covered  with  zinc.     These  are  not  painte'd.     So  long  as 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


95 


they  remain  whole  there  is  no  need  of  paint,  and  whenever 
there  seems  to  be  a  possibiHty  of  their  approaching  any- 
thing hke  a  leaking  condition  they  can  be  covered  with 
paint.  The  same  might  be  said  of  the  tin,  only  I  expect 
the  zinc  to  stand  the  weather  nnpainted  much  longer  than 
the  tin  would. 


W     -         -^^^..s.*-::  :.-:*.. 

:•;,«,:•:;                  .*.;*>;./->-.yi^ 

w% 

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t 

XH 

H 

91 

\ 

^^^H 

^j^^^HH 

r 

9 

jf 

^M 

!    m 

i    ^     .   1 

Fig.  so — Balled  Queen. 


At  Fig.  38  may  be  seen  two  of  these  zinc  hive-covers. 
The  one  at  the  right  shows  the  upper  or  zinc  surface. 
The  left  one  shows  the  under  or  wood  surface ;  and  if  you 
look  at  the  right  end  of  this  last  cover  you  will  see  that 
the  upper  layer  of  thin  board  projects  three-fourths  of  an 


nC)  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

inch  so  as  to  serve  as  a  handle.  One  of  these  covers 
weighs  five  pounds. 

A  cover  sent  me  by  the  A.  I.  Root  Co.  covered  with 
paper  and  painted,  has  been  in  use  several  years,  and  so 
far  it  seems  to  stand  as  well  as  zinc  or  tin.  Possibly  this 
paper  may  do  as  well  as  the  metal  and  save  expense.  I 
would  rather  pay  a  good  price  for  a  good  cover,  rain- 
proof, bee-proof,  non-warping,  non-twisting,  with  a  dead- 
air  space,  than  to  take  a  poorer  cover  as  a  gift. 

The  hundred  covers  I  have  mentioned  were  made 
specially  to  order,  but  I  am  glad  to  see  that  the  A.  I. 
Root  Co.  have  now  on  their  list  a  cover  made  on  the  same 
principle, 

HIVE-STAXDS.   ^ 

My  hive-stands  are  simple  and  inexpensive  (Fig.  39). 
They  are  made  of  common  fence-boards  6  inches  wide. 
Two  pieces  32  inches  long  are  nailed  upon  two  other 
pieces  or  cleats  24  inches  long.  That's  all.  Of  course 
the  longer  pieces  are  uppermost,  leaving  the  cleats  below. 
Two  similar  cleats,  but  loose,  lie  on  the  ground  under  the 
first-mentioned  cleats.  This  makes  it  equivalent  to  cleats 
of  two-inch  stufif,  with  the  decided  advantage  that  only 
the  loose  cleat  will  rot  away  by  lying  on  the  ground,  with- 
out spoiling  the  whole  stand.  These  stands  are  leveled 
with  a  spirit-level  before  the  hives  are  placed  on  them, 
(sometimes  not  till  afterward),  being  made  perfectly  level 
from  side  to  side,  with  the  rear  one  or  two  inches  higher 
than  the  front.  Each  of  these  stands  is  intended  for  two 
hives,  with  a  space  of  2  to  4  inches  between  the  two  hives. 
It  is  much  easier  to  level  a  stand  like  this  than  to  level  one 
for  a  single  hive.    There  are  other  advantages. 

HIVES  IX  PAIRS.  -/  • 

This  putting  in  pairs  is  quite  a  saving  of  room  ;  for  if 
room  were  allowed  for  working  on  each  side  of  each  hive, 
only  two-thirds  the  number  could  be  g^t  into  the  row. 
But  so  far  as  the  bees  are  concerned,  it  is  equivalent  to 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  97 

putting  in  double  the  number ;  that  is,  there  is  no  more 
danger  of  a  bee  going  into  the  wrong  hive  by  mistake, 
than  if  only  a  single  hive  stood  where  each  pair  stands. 
If  hives  stood  very  close  together  at  regular  intervals,  a 
bee  might  by  mistake  go  into  the  wrong  hive,  but  if  a 
colony  of  bees  is  in  the  habit,  as  mine  sometimes  are  in 
the  spring,  of  going  into  the  south  end  of  their  entrance, 
they  will  never  make  the  mistake  of  entering  at  the  north 
end,  as  you  will  quickly  see  if  you  plug  up,  alternately, 
the  north  and  south  ends  of  the  entrance.  When  the 
north  end  is  closed  it  does  not  affect  the  bees  at  all,  but 
close  the  south  end,  and  dire  consternation  follows.  To 
the  bees  the  pair  of  hives  is  much  the  same  as  a  single 
hive,  and  thev  will  not  make  the  mistake  of  entering  the 
wrong  end. 

A  space  of  2  feet  or  so  is  left  between  one  pair  of 
hives  and  the  next  pair,  so  as  to  leave  plenty  of  room 
for  a  seat. 

GROUPS   OF   FOUR   HIVES.*/ 

In  two  of  the  apiaries  there  is  a  still  further  economy 
of  room  by  placing  a  second  row  close  to  the  first,  the 
hives  standing  back  to  back.  That,  you  will  see,  makes 
the  hives  in  groups  of  four.  I  do  not  know  of  any  ar- 
rangement that  will  allow  a  larger  number  of  hives  to 
stand  on  a  given  surface.  The  difference  in  the  amount 
of  travel  in  the  course  of  a  year  in  such  an  arrangement 
as  compared  with  one  without  any  grouping,  is  a  matter 
not  to  be  despised. 

SHADE. 

Trees  shade  most  of  the  hives  at  least  a  part  of  the 
day,  and  at  one  end  of  the  home  apiary  the  trees  were  so 
thick  that  I  cut  out  part  of  them.  I  had  previously 
thought  that  shade  was  important,  and  that  with  sufficient 
shade  there  was  never  any  danger  of  bees  suffering  from 
heat,  but  after  having  combs  melt  down  in  a  hive  so 
densely  shaded  bv  trees  that  the  sun  did  not  shine  on  it  all 


!)8 


FTFrV  VKARS    A.MOXCi  THE  BEES 


clay  long,  I  changed  my  mind.  1  value  the  shade  these 
trees  give,  not  so  much  for  the  good  it  does  the  bees,  but 
for  the  comfort  of  the  operator  working  at  them.  I  don't 
lelieve  bees  sufifer  as  much  from  the  hot  sun  shining 
directly  on  the  hives,  as  they  do  from  having  the  air  shut 
o*T  from  them  by  surrounding  objects.  I  have  had  combs 
melt  down  in  hives,  the  honey  running  in  a  stream  on  the 
ground,  one  of  the  hives  at  least  being  in  a  shade  of  trees 
so  dense  the  sun  never  shone  on  it,  and  I  suspect  it  was 


''   J-'ig.   SI — Foundation    z^'itJi   Splint   Supports 


for  lack  of  air.  A  dense  growth  of  corn  was  directly 
back  of  the  hives  and  a  dense  growth  of  young  trees  and 
underbrush  in  front.  I  didn't  know  enough  to  notice  this, 
although  when  working  at  the  bees  my  shirt  would  be 
as  wet  as  if  dipped  in  the  river.  I  had  the  young  trees 
thinned  out  and  trimmed  rj).  the  corn-ground  in  grass,  so 
the  air  could  get  through,  and  I  now  w^ork  with  more 
comfort,  and  no  comb  has  melted  dow^n  for  30  years. 

!:^ometimes  I  have  found  it  desirable  to  shade  one  or 
more  hives  singly.  An  armful  of  the  longest  fresh-cut 
grass  obtainable  is  laid  on  the  hive-cover,  and  weighted 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  99 

down  with  two  or  three  sticks  of  stove-wood.     But  I  do 
not  think  anything  of  the  kind  is  needed  on  double  covers. 

MOVABLE  SHADE.      \/ 

For  hives  that  are  not  in  the  shade,  especially  during 
certain  parts  of  the  day,  a  movable  shade  (Fig.  58)  is  a 
great  comfort  to  the  operator  when  the  sun  shines  with 
blistering  heat.  Four  standards  are  made  of  7-16  inch 
rod-iron.  Take  a  piece  of  the  iron  G  feet  2  inches  long; 
bend  the  upper  end  into  a  ring  or  eye,  and  sharpen  the 
lower  end.  Twelve  inches  from  the  point  or  lower  end 
bend  the  rod  at  right  angles.  Two  inches  higher  up  bend 
again  at  right  angles,  leaving  the  rod  straight  except  that 
knee  of  two  inches,  upon  which  you  can  set  your  foot  and 
drive  it  in  the  ground  as  when  spading. 

The  cloth  used  for  the  shade  is  about  as  large  as  an 
ordinary  bed-sheet,  and  is  usually  the  linen  lap-robe, 
which  is  always  at  hand,  and  on  which  a  string  is  kept 
tied  on  each  corner  so  as  to  be  always  ready  to  set  up  in 
a  twinkling.  This  string  has  both  ends  tied  around  the 
cloth  at  the  corner,  leaving  the  string  in  the  form  of  a 
loop.  The  loop  is  thrust  through  the  eye  of  the  standard, 
looped  back  over  the  eye,  and  there  you  are. 

When  the  sun  is  not  far  from  the  horizon,  only  two 
standards  are  used,  from  which  the  lap-robe  hangs  as  a 
wall  between  the  operator  and  the  sun. 


FEEDING  MEAL. 

I  used  to  read  about  feeding  meal  in  the  spring.  I 
triecl  it,  put  out  rye-meal,  and  not  a  bee  would  touch  it ; 
baited  them  with  honey,  and  if  they  took  the  honey  they 
left  the  meal.  Finally,  one  day,  I  saw  a  bee  alight  on  a 
dish  of  flour  set  in  a  sunny  place.  It  went  at  it  in  a 
rollicking  manner  as  if  delighted.  I  was  more  delighted. 
At  last  I  had  in  some  way  got  the  thing  right,  and  my 
bees  would  take  meal.  The  bee  loaded  up,  and  lugged  off 
its  load,  and  I  waited  for  it  and  others  to  come  for  more. 


100  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

They  didn't  come,  and  that  was  the  first  and  last  load 
taken  that  year.  I  cannot  tell  now  exactly  when  the 
change  came  about,  neither  do  I  know  that  I  have  done 
anything  different,  but  I  have  no  trouble  now  in  getting 
the  bees  to  take  bushels  of  meal.  I  suppose  the  simple 
explanation  is  that  there  was  plenty  of  natural  pollen  for 
the  few  bees  I  had  in  the  first  years,  but  not  enough  for 
the  larger  number  of  colonies  I  had  later. 

About  as  soon  as  the  bees  are  set  out  in  the  spring,  I 
begin  feeding  them  meal,  although  some  years  I  do  not 
offer  any  substitute  for  pollen.  For  this  purpose  I  like 
shallow  boxes,  and  generally  use  old  hive-covers  4  inches 
deep.  These  are  placed  in  a  sunny  place  about  a  foot 
apart,  one  end  raised  three  or  four  inches  higher  than  the 
other.  This  may  be  done  by  putting  a  stone  under  one 
end.  although  I  generally  place  them  along  the  edge  of  a 
little  ditch  where  no  stone  is  needed,  and  they  can  be 
whirled  around  as  if  on  a  central  pivot.  One  feed-box  is 
used  for  every  10  to  20  colonies,  although  I  am  guided 
rather  by  what  the  bees  seem  to  need,  adding  more  boxes 
as  fast  as  the  ones  already  given  are  crowded  with  bees. 

SUBSTITUTES  FOR  POLLEN. 

I  can  hardly  tell  what  I  have  not  used  for  meal.  I 
have  used  meal  or  flour  of  pretty  much  all  the  grains, 
bran,  shorts  and  all  the  different  feeds  used  for  cows  in 
this  noted  dairy  region,  including  even  the  yellow  meal 
brought  from  glucose  factories  for  cow-feed,  although,  if 
this  last  were  known,  it  might  be  reported  that  I  filled 
paraffin  combs  with  glucose  and  sealed  them  over  with  a 
hot  butcher-knife.  I  think  this  glucose  meal  is  perhaps 
the  poorest  feed  I  have  used.  As  to  the  rest  I  hardly 
know  which  is  best,  and  I  have  of  late  used  principally 
corn  and  oats  ground  together,  partly  because  I  was 
using  that  for  horse  and  cow  feed,  and  partly  because  I 
think  it  may  be  as  good  as  any. 

When  the  feed-boxes  are  put  in  place,  in  the  morn- 
ing,  (and  I  commence  this  feeding  just  as  soon  as  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  101 

bees  are  out  of  the  cellar),  I  put  in  each  box  at  the  raised 
end  about  four  to  six  quarts  (the  quantity  is  not  very 
material)  of  the  feed.  The  more  compact,  and  the  less 
scattered  the  feed  the  better.  The  bees  will  gradually  dig 
it  down  till  it  is  all  settled  in  the  lower  end  of  the  box, 
just  the  same  as  so  much  water  would  settle  there.  This 
may  take  an  hour,  or  it  may  take  six,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. As  often  as  they  dig  it  down,  I  reverse  the 
position  of  the  box,  just  whirling  it  around  if  it  stands 
on  the  edge  of  the  ditch.  This  brings  the  meal  again  at 
the  raised  end  of  the  box.  When  the  bees  have  it  dug 
down  level  there  is  little  to  be  seen  on  the  top  except  the 
hulls  of  the  oats,  and  what  fun  it  is  to  see  the  bees  bur- 
row in  this,  sometimes  clear  out  of  sight. 

It  is  alwavs  a  source  of  amusement  to  see  the  bees 
working  on  this  meal,  and  the  young  folks  watch  them 
by  the  half-hour.  Bv  night  the  oat-meal  and  finer  parts 
of  the  corn  are  nearlv  all  worked  out,  and  after  the  bees 
have  stopped  working,  the  boxes  are  emptied,  piled  up, 
one  on  top  of  another,  and  at  the  top,  one  placed  upside 
down  so  that  no  dew  or  rain  may  affect  them.  If  I  think 
it  is  not  worked  out  pretty  clean,  I  may  let  them  work  it 
over  next  dav,  putting  three  or  four  times  as  much  in  a 
box.  When' the  bees  are  done  with  it,  there  will  be 
empty  oat-hulls  on  top,  and  the  coarse  part  of  the  corn  on 
the  bottom.  It  does  not  matter  if  it  is  not  worked  out 
clean,  for  it  is  fed  to  the  horses  or  cows  afterwards. 

After  the  first  day's  feeding,  the  boxes  must  be  filled 
in  good  season  in  the  morning,  or  the  bees  annoy  very 
much  by  being  in  the  way,  and  throughout  the  day,  while 
the  bees  are  at  work,  if  I  go  among  the  feed-boxes  to 
turn  them,  or  for  any  other  purpose,  I  must  look  sharp 
where  I  set  my  feet,  or  bees  will  be  killed,  as  they  are 
quite  thick  over  the  ground,  brushing  the  meal  off  their 
bodies  and  packing  their  loads.  Before  many  days  the 
meal-boxes  are  deserted  for  the  now  plenty  natural  pollen, 
although  if  vou  watch  the  bees,  as  they  go  laden  into  the 
hives,  even  when  working  thickest  in  the  boxes,  you  will 
see  a  good  many  carrying  in  heavy  loads  of  natural  pollen. 


102 


FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 


It  seems  to  be  a  beneficent  natural  law,  that  bees  do 
not  like  to  crowd  one  another  in  their  search  for  pollen  or 
nectar,  or  else  the  meal-boxes  would  be  untouched  and  all 
the  bees  would  work  upon  the  insufficient  supply  of 
pollen.  In  consequence  of  this  law  it  is  necessary  to  fur- 
nish a  sufficient  number  of  boxes,  for  although  the  bees 
will  work  quite  thick  if  only  5  boxes  are  left  for  150 
colonies,  they  will  work  scarcely  thicker  if  only  one  box 
is  left. 


k. 


t 


— ~R| 


;r 


Fig.  32 — Combs  of  Honey. 


OUT-DOOR  FEEDING. 


I  have  fed  barrels  of  sugar  syrup  in  the  open  air, 
and  it  is  possible  that  circumstances  may  arise  to  induce 
me  to  do  it  again,  but  I  doubt. 

There  are  serious  objections  to  this  out-door  feeding. 
You  are  not  sure  what  portion  of  it  your  own  bees  will 
get,  if  other  bees  are  in  flying  distance.  Considerable  ex- 
perience has  proved  to  me  that  by  this  method  of  feeding, 
the  strong  colonies  get  the  lion's  share,   and  the   weak 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  103 

colonies  very  little.  ^lorever,  I  have  seen  indications  that 
part  of  the  colonies  get  none,  both  of  the  weak  and 
strong.  You  are  also  dependent  on  the  weather,  as  wet 
and  cliilly  davs  may  come,  when  bees  cannot  fly. 

As  already  mentioned,  when  the  bees  are  brought  out 
of  the  cellar,  colonies  are  marked  that  are  suspiciously 
light,  and  their  immediate  wants  supplied  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible! But  with  8-frame  hives  there  will  be  a  good  many 
colonies  that  will  run  short  of  stores  before  there  is  any 
chance  for  them  to  supply  themselves  from  outside. 

STIMULATIVE    FEEDING. 

Some  would  say  that  I  ought  to  practice  stimulative 
feeding  for  the  sake  of  hastening  the  work  of  building 
up  the  colonv.  But  it  takes  a  good  deal  of  wisdom  to 
know  at  all  times  just  how  to  manage  stimulative  feedmg 
so  as  not  to  do  harm  instead  of  good ;  and  I  am  not  cer- 
tain that  I  have  the  wisdom. 

Whatever  else  may  be  true  about  spring  feedmg,  I 
am  pretty  fully  settled  'in  the  belief  that  it  is  of  first  nii- 
portance  that  the  bees  should  have  an  abundant  supply  of 
stores,  whether  such  supply  be  furnished  from  day  to  day 
by  the  bee-keeper,  or  stored  up  by  the  bees  themselves  six 
months  or  a  year  previously.  Moreover,  I  believe  they 
build  up  more  rapidly  if  they  have  not  only  enough  to  use 
from  day  to  dav,  but  a  reserve  or  visible  supply  for  future 
use.  If  a  colony  comes  out  of  the  cellar  strong,  and  with 
combs  full  of  stores,  I  have  some  doubts  if  I  can  hasten 
its  building  up  by  any  tinkering  I  can  do.  So  my  feeding 
in  spring  is  to  make  sure  they  have  abundant  stores, 
rather  than  for  the  stimulation  of  frequent  giving. 

RAPID    CONSUMPTION    OF    STORES. 

After  so  many  years  of  experience  in  that  line,  I  am 
nevertheless  still  surprised  sometimes  to  find  how  rapidly 
the  stores  have  diminished  under  the  constantly  increas- 
ing demands  made  by  brood-rearing.     So  there  is  little 


104  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

danger  of  getting  too  much  honey  in  the  hive.  It  is  not 
enough  to  have  sufficient  to  last  till  the  white  clover  har- 
vest begins.  To  be  sure,  that  might  be  all  right  so  far  as 
the  building  up  of  the  colony  is  concerned.  But  no  honey 
will  be  put  in  the  supers  so  long  as  there  are  empty  cells 
in  the  brood-chamber,  and  it  is  better  to  have  enough 
honey  left  in  the  brood-chamber  so  that  the  first  white 
honey  shall  go  straight  into  the  supers. 

SURPLUS    COMBS    OF    HOXEY. 

Nothing  is  l^etter  than  to  have  plenty  of  full  combs 
of  sealed  honey  saved  over  from  the  previous  year,  with 
which  to  supply  any  colony  that  may  need  them.  If  I 
were  as  good  a  bee-keeper  as  I  ought  to  be,  there  would 
always  be  enough  of  these  so  that  nothing  else  would  be 
needed  to  take  their  place.  But  I  am  not  as  good  a  bee- 
keeper as  I  ought  to  be,  and  while  some  years  I  may  have 
all  the  extra  combs  of  honey  that  can  be  used,  at  other 
times  they  may  run  short,  even  to  not  having  enough  to 
supply  the  pinching  wants  of  colonies  just  taken  from  the 
cellar.  There  may,  however,  be  some  combs  at  least 
partly  filled  that  have  been  taken  from  colonies  that  died 
in  winter,  or  from  the  uniting  of  colonies  in  spring,  and 
these  may  supplement  the  number  of  combs  saved  up 
from  the  previous  year. 

FEEDING  SECTIONS  OF  HONEY. 

\\"hen  the  combs  of  honey  are  all  gone,  the  next  best 
thing  is  to  give  sections  in  wide  frames.  This  seems  like 
an  extravagant  thing  to  do  ;  but  if  the  sections  contain 
dark  or  objectionable  honey,  and  if  they  can  be  cleaned 
out  and  used  for  baits,  there  is  no  very  great  extrava- 
gance about  it.  I  have  given  sections  by  sliding  them 
under  the  bottom-bars,  a  thing  very  easily  done  with  bot- 
tom-boards two  inches  deep,  but  such  sections  are  ruined 
for  use  as  baits,  and  all  you  can  do  with  the  empty  comb 
in  them  is  to  melt  it  into  wax. 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES  105 

FEEDING  TO   FILL   COMBS. 

If  neither  combs  of  sealed  honey  nor  suitable  sections 
are  to  be  had,  then  feeding  with  Miller  feeders  is  in  order. 
But  colonies  that  need  feeding  in  spring  are  not  always 
very  strong,  and  a  weak  colony  makes  rather  poor  work 
on  a  feeder  at  that  time.  Instead  of  distributing  feeders 
to  all  colonies  that  need  feeding,  they  are  limited  to  a 
small  number  of  the  very  strongest,  whether  these  need 
feeding  or  not.  Then  filled  combs  are  taken  from  these 
strong  colonies  and  given  to  the  needy  colonies  whether 
at  home  or  in  the  out-apiaries,  for  the  feeders  are  gener- 
allv  used  only  at  home. 

It  may  be  that  these  strong  colonies  are  already  well 
supplied  with  honey.  Whatever  honey  they  have  is  taken 
from  them,  unless  it  be  in  combs  containing  brood,  and 
empty  combs  given  in  place.  The  feeder  is  put  directly 
on  the  brood-chamber.  After  the  bees  get  a  fair  start 
on  the  feeder  an  upper  story  with  empty  combs  may  be 
given,  but  just  at  first  they  will  make  a  better  start  with- 
out this  second  story.  When  the  feeder  is  put  on  5  or  10 
pounds  of  sugar  is  poured  in,  and  an  equal  quantity  of 
water  poured  on  the  sugar.  It  is  much  better  to  have 
the  water  hot.  It  would  be  well  to  fill  the  feeder  full 
but  in  that  case  a  good  portion  of  it  would  be  left  to  get 
cold,  and  faster  work  will  be  done  if  no  more  is  given 
each  day  than  will  be  taken  that  day.  Very  often  when 
I  go  around  to  the  feeders  next  morning  I  find  most  of 
them  with  sugar  still  in  the  feeder,  but  the  liquid  all 
taken.  That  doesn't  matter;  more  water  can  be  added. 
Indeed  12  or  15  pounds  of  sugar  may  be  put  in  the  feeder, 
and  then  each  day  only  so  much  water  as  the  bees  will 
use  out  that  day. '  For' they  are  not  likely  to  do  much  at 
night  unless  the  weather  be  quite  warm. 

■     WHOLESALE    FEEDING. 

There  come  times,  however,  when  the  feeding  must 
be  rushed,  and  there  can  be  no  puttering  with  getting  one 


106 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


colony  to  store  for  another.  One  of  those  times  came  in 
the  year  1902.  The  second  week  in  June,  at  the  time 
when  in  a  good  season  there  ought  to  be  Hvely  work 
piling  on  supers,  I  found  nearly  every  colony  on  the  point 
of  starvation.  If  there  was  any  difference,  the  strongest 
colonies  w^ere  the  worst.  The  combs  were  filled  with 
brood,   requiring  large  daily   consumption,   stores   in  the 


f'ig-  33 — Combs  of  Brood. 


hive  were  exhausted,  and  not  enough  for  daily  supplies 
coming  in.  It  would  hardly  be  proper  economy  to  have 
combs  filled  with  honey  saved  up  for  such  emergencies, 
seeing  that  they  are  not  expected  to  come  often,  so  the 
w^hole  force  of  feeders,  some  fifty,  were  put  into  action. 

Part  were  put  in  the  home  apiary  and  part  taken  to 
the  out-apiaries.  When  going  to  an  out-apiary  a  bag  of 
sugar  was  taken  along.  Water  was  put  in  the  wash- 
boiler  on  the  cook-stove  and  a  good  fire  built  under  it. 
A  good-sized  tin  pail  was  filled  half  full  or  more  with  the 
heated  water,  then  sugar  was  poured' in  till  the  pail  was 
nearly  full,  and  it  was  stirred  with  a  stick  till  fairly  well 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  107 

dissolved,  which  did  not  take  very  long.  The  syrup  was 
then  poured  into  the  feeder  on  one  of  the  hives,  a  pail 
half  full  of  water  was  taken  in  and  poured  into  the  boiler, 
and  then  another  colony  was  fed,  and  this  was  continued 
till  all  the  feeders  were  supplied.  The  next  day  or  so 
the  feeders  were  shifted  to  another  set  of  hives,  till  all 
were  fed. 

FEEDING  IN   JUNE. 

You  will  notice  this  is  considerably  different  from  the 
early  spring  feeding.  The  colonies  were  stronger  in 
June,  the  weather  warmer,  and  the  bees  made  rapid  work 
carrying  down  the  feed.  It  was  better  to  dissolve  the 
sugar  before  putting  it  in  the  feeders  (perhaps  it  is  bet- 
ter at  any  time),  for  then  there  was  no  danger  of  having 
dry  sugar  left  in  the  feeder.  /Perhaps  there  was  no  real 
gain  in  using  hot  water  when  the  colonies  were  strong  and 
the  weather  warm.  I  tried  cold  water  in  some  cases,  and 
it  worked  all  right,  only  it  took  more  stirring. 

ORIGINAL  MILLER  FEEDER. 

Most  of  my  feeders  are  of  the  original  pattern  (Fig. 
40).  At  Fig.  41  is  seen  one  of  them  dissected.  The 
lower  part  is  an  ordinary  section-super.  On  this  rests 
the  feeder  proper,  with  the  little  board  at  one  end  re- 
moved, also  the  little  board  at  one  side,  so  as  to  show  the 
inside  wall  under  which  the  syrup  may  flow,  and  the  out- 
side wall,  which  lacks  enough  of  coming  to  the  top  so 
that  the  bees  can  come  up  over  it  and  go  down  into  the 
feed. 

IMPROVED  MILLER  FEEDER. 

The  improved  Miller  feeder  of  the  catalogs,  instead 
of  being  all  in  one  has  two  parts,  and  the  bees  go  up 
through  the  middle.  I  though  it  was  an  important  im- 
provement to  allow  the  bees  to  go  up  the  middle  instead 


108 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


of  up  the  two  sides,  because  the  heat  ought  to  be  greater 
at  the  middle.  After  a  thorough  trial  of  the  two,  side 
by  side,  I  am  obliged  to  admit  that  the  improvement  is 
one  in  theory  only,  and  that  the  bees  go  up  the  sides 
whenever  they  will  go  up  the  middle,  and  it  seems  a  little 
better  to  have  the  feed  all  in  one  dish. 


Pk-  34— Part  of  Home  Apiary  {from  Northwest). 

If  it  were  not  for  the  expense  of  keeping  two  sets  of 
feeders,  I  should  like  to  keep  a  set  of  Doolittle  division- 
board  feeders,  for  there  may  come  times  when  it  is  cool 
and  bees  will  not  take  feed  readily  from  a  Aliller  feeder, 
yet  would  take  it  from  a  division-board  feeder,  because 
closer  to  the  brood-nest.  But  most  times  I  should  prefer 
the  Miller,  so  that  has  the  preference. 


CROCK-AXD-PLATE    FEEDER. 


I  have  used  the  crock-and-plate  feeder  (Fig.  TSj,  and 
it  answers  a  very  good  purpose.  It  has  the  advantage 
that  any  one  can  make  a  feeder  at  a  minute's  notice  with 
materials  always   ready  to  hand.     Take  a  gallon  crock. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  109 

fill  it  half  full  of  granulated  sugar;  then  fill  nearly  full 
with  water,  all  the  better  if  stirred  till  dissolved ;  cover 
over  the  crock  a  thickness  of  flannel  or  other  woolen  cloth, 
or  else  four  or  five  thicknesses  of  cheese-cloth  ;  over  this 
lay  a  dinner-plate  upside  down  ;  then  with  one  hand  under 
the  crock  and  the  other  over  the  plate,  quickly  turn  the 
whole  thing  upside  dow^n.  Of  course  a  smaller  quantity 
of  feed  may  be  used  if  desired. 

The  feeder  is  then  set  over  the  frames  of  a  colony, 
an  empty  hive-body  placed  over,  and  all  covered  up  so  no 
bee  can  get  to  it  except  through  the  regular  hive-entrance. 

WATERING-CROCK. 

This  crock-and-plate  feeder  is  a  good  one  for  those 
who  like  out-door  feeding,  if  only  a  small  quantity  is  to  be 
fed.  It  also  makes  a  good  watering-place  for  bees,  if  one 
does  not  mind  the  trouble.  Better  than  this  is  a  six- 
gallon  crock  standing  upright  with  a  few  sticks  of  fire- 
wood in  it  for  a  watering-crock  (Fig.  44).  A  little  salt 
thrown  into  the  water  helps  to  keep  it  sweet,  and  pre- 
vents it  from  being  a  breeding-place  for  mosquitoes. 

CORK-CHIPS    FOR    WATERING.  •^ 

But  I  hit  upon  something  that  is  so  efifective,  so 
cheap,  and  so  little  trouble,  that  I  can  hardly  imagine 
anything  better.  Go  to  your  grocer  and  ask  him  to  save 
you  some  cork-chips,  such  as  he  gets  in  kegs  of  grapes, 
and  probably  throws  away.  Take  a  pail  or  other  vessel 
(I  use  a  half-barrel),  put  in  as  much  water  as  you  like, 
and  on  this  put  on  so  much  of  the  cork-chips  that  the 
w^ater  will  barely  come  up  enough  for  the  bees  to  reach. 
A  bee  can  not  drown  in  this.  When  the  water  gets  low, 
a  fresh  supply  can  be  poured  in,  and  it  does  no  great  harm 
to  pour  it  directly  on  the  bees.  They  climb  easily  to  the 
top  of  the  cork  after  their  bath.  The  cork  remains  ef- 
fective throughout  a  whole  season. 


-^co>;(A  y-u  •Vjoofitu,  cl^ 


110  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

It  is  important  to  start  the  watering-place  early  in 
the  season,  before  the  bees  make  a  start  at  some  pump 
or  other  place  where  they  will  be  troublesome. 

LACK   OF   SYSTEM. 

I  would  like  to  say  that  I  am  very  methodical  about 
overhauling  and  seeing  to  the  building  up  of  colonies, 
from  the  time  they  are  placed  on  the  summer  stands,  till 
the  honey  harvest  begins,  but  it  would  hardly  be  in  ac- 
cordance with  facts.  Conditions  of  bees  or  weather  may 
make  a  difference  in  course  of  action.  Possibly  some 
other  duties  aside  from  the  direct  care  of  the  bees  may 
make  a  difference.  So  when  I  attempt  to  tell  things  just 
as  they  are,  my  want  of  system  confronts  me,  and  makes 
the  task  somewhat  difficult. 

At  this  point  I  fancy  I  can  hear  some  of  my  good 
friends  saying,  "Why  don't  you  keep  a  smaller  number  of 
colonies,  so  that  you  can  have  system  enough  to  be  able  to 
tell  a  straight  story,  and  derive  more  pleasure  and  profit?" 
I  know  it  would  be  more  pleasure  ;  as  to  the  profit,  I 
doubt.  If  I  had  so  few  that  I  could  at  all  times  do  every 
thing  by  a  perfect  system,  I  am  afraid  I  should  have  part 
of  the  time  a  good  deal  of  idle  time  on  my  hands. 
Neither  is  it  fair  for  me  to  charge  my  lack  of  system  en- 
tirely to  the  number  of  colonies.  Some  of  it  comes  from 
ignorance  in  not  knowing  how  to  do  any  better,  some  of 
it  from  changing  plans  constantly,  and  perhaps  some  of 
it  from  lack  of  energy  in  doing  every  thing  just  at  the 
right  time. 

DIMSIOX-BOARDS. 

In  former  years  I  made  some  attempt  to  keep  the  bees 
warmer  by  the  use  of  a  division-board,  closing  down  to 
the  number  of  combs  actually  needed  at  the  time  by  the 
bees.  I  was  disappointed  to  find  no  clear  proof  that  any 
great  good  came  from  it.  Since  then,  the  experiments  of 
Gaston  Bonnier  have  shown  that  combs  serve  as  good  a 
purpose  as  a  division-board,  so  the  trouble  of  moving  a 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES  111 

division-board  from  time  to  time  to  accommodate  the  size 
of  the  colony  is  avoided. 

VERY    WEAK    COLONIES    IX    SPRING.      "^ 

I  have  had,  one  time  and  another,  a  good  many  very 
weak  colonies  in  the  spring,  and  I  am  puzzled  to  know 
what  to  do  with  them.  It  seems  of  no  use  to  unite  them, 
for  I  have  united  five  into  one,  and  the  united  colony 
seemed  to  do  no  better  than  one  left  separate.  About 
all  I  try  to  do,  is  to  keep  the  queen  alive  till  I  find  some 
queenless  colony  with  which  to  unite  them. 

One  year  I  took  the  queens  of  five  or  six  very  weak 
colonies,  put  them  in  small  cages,  and  laid  the  cages  on 
top  of  the  frames,  under  the  quilt,  over  a  strong  colony. 
When  I  next  overhauled  this  colony,  its  queen  was  gone, 
probably  killed  by  the  bees  on  account  of  the  presence  of 
other  queens,  but  the  queens  in  the  cages  were  in  good 
condition,  and  became  afterward  the  mothers  of  fine 
colonies.  I  had  put  two  of  the  queens  in  one  cage,  as  I 
was  short  of  cages,  and  did  not  attach  much  value  to  the 
queens,  and  these  two  did  as  well  as  the  others.  Of 
course  this  was  an  exception  to  the  general  rule. 

In  my  locality  I  do  not  think  the  colonies  can  ever 
become  strong  and  populous  too  early  in  the  season. 
Theoretically,  at  least,  then,  I  see  that  every  colony  as 
soon  as  it  comes  out  of  the  cellar,  has  plenty  of  stores  to 
last  it  for  some  time.  I  know  this  is  a  very  indefinite 
amount.  Perhaps  I  might  make  it  more  definite  by  say- 
ing, for  an  ordinary  colony,  the  equivalent  of  two  full 
combs  of  stores.  If  they  have  not  so  much  I  supply 
them.  I  formerly  thought  it  desirable  to  have  any  feed 
given  them  as  far  as  possible  from  the  brood-nest,  so 
that  they  might  have  the  feeling  they  were  accumulating 
from  abroad.  Further  observation  makes  me  place  less 
confidence  in  this. 

STRONG  VERSUS  WEAK  COLONIES. 

I  think  that  with  increasing  years  I  have  an  increas- 
ing aversion  to  weak  colonies.     At  the  time  of  the  honey 


112  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 

harvest,  40,000  bees  in  two  colonies  will  not  begin  to 
store  as  much  as  the  same  bees  would  do  if  they  were  all 
in  one  colony.  Of  course  you  have  thought  of  that,  but 
possibly  you  have  not  noticed  so  clearly  that  something 
like  the  same  rule  holds  good  about  building  up  in  spring. 
Take  a  colony  that  comes  out  of  the  cellar  with  only 
enough  bees  to  cover  two  combs.     It  will  remain  at  a 


Pig-  35— Port  of  Home  Apiary    (from   SoutJizcest). 

stand-still  for  a  long  time.  Indeed,  it  may  not  stand  still, 
but  may  become  weaker,  so  that  it  will  not  have  as 
much  brood  June  1  as  May  1,  with  a  possibility  of  peg- 
ging out  altogether  before  the  harvest  opens.  On  the 
other  hand  a  colony  with  bees  enough  to  cover  well  three 
frames  is  likely  to  hold  its  own,  beginning  to  increase 
slowly  as  soon  as  weather  permits  ;  and  if  it  has  bees 
enough  to  cover  four  frames  it  will  walk  right  along  in- 
creasing its  brood-nest. 

GIVING  BROOD  TO  STRONGER. 

Shall  I  take  frames  of  brood  from  strong  colonies  to 
give  to  the  weaklings?     Xot  I.     For  tht  damage  to  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    A:^I0NG  THE  BEES  113; 

strong  colonies  will  more  than  overbalance  the  benefit  ta 
the  weaklings.  If  any  taking  from  one  colony  to  give 
another  is  done  in  the  spring,  it  will  be  to  take  from  the 
weak  to  give  to  those  not  so  weak.  If  one  colony  has 
four  frames  of  brood  and  another  two,  taking  from  the 
stronger  frame  for  the  weaker  would  leave  both  so 
weak  they  would  not  build  up  very  rapidly,  whereas  tak- 
ing one  from  the  two-frame  colony  and  giving  it  to  the 
four-frame  colony  would  make  the  latter  build  up  so  much 
faster  that  it  could  pay  back  with  interest  the  borrowed 
frame.  ; 

GIVING  BROOD  TO   WEAKER.  ^ 

Xot  till  a  colony  has  six  or  eight  frames  of  brood  is 
it  desirable  to  draw  from  it  brood  for  weaker  colonies, 
and  there's  no  hurry  about  it  then.  When  a  colony  has 
its  hive  so  crowded  with  brood  that  the  queen  seems  to 
need  more  room,  then  a  frame  of  brood  can  be  taken 
from  it  to  help  others.  The  first  to  be  helped  are  not 
the  weakest,  but  the  strongest  of  those  with  less  than 
four  frames  of  brood.  When  the  three-framers  are  all 
brought  up  to  four  frames,  it  is  time  enough  to  help  the 
weaker  ones.  Toward  the  last  the  little  fellows  can  be 
helped  up  quite  rapidly.  Perhaps  a  colony  with  two  or 
three  brood  (if  you  will  allow  me  to  use  brood  for  short 
when  I  mean  frames  of  brood)  has  had  brood  taken  from 
it,  leaving  it  with  only  one  brood.  It  has  stood  so  for 
several  weeks,  and  now  it  can  have  three  or  four  brood 
given  to  it,  setting  it  well  on  its  feet. 

\Mien  brood  is  thus  taken,  generallv  the  adhering 
bees  are  taken  with  the  brood,  of  course  making  sure 
that  no  queen  is  taken.  Where  a  single  brood  is  given 
with  adhering  bees  to  a  colony,  I  have  never  known  any 
harm  to  come  to  the  queen  of  the  reinforced  colony.  In 
rare  cases  I  have  had  the  queen  killed  when  several 
frames  of  brood  have  been  given  at  a  time  to  a  very  weak 
colony.  A  precautionary  rule  is  that  when  more  than 
one  brood  is  given  at  a  time,  each  one  is  taken  from  a 
different  colonv. 


114  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

GIVING    SECOND    STORY.    ^ 

When  a  colony  is  beginning  to  be  crowded  and  there 
are  no  colonies  needing  help,  and  sometimes  even  when 
others  do  need  help,  a  second  story  is  given.  This  sec- 
ond story  is  given  below.  Putting  an  empty  story  below 
does  not  cool  off  the  bees  like  putting  one  above.  The 
bees  can  move  down  as  fast  as  thev  need  the  room.     In- 


P^S-  36 — Comb  Resting  Diagonally  in  Hire. 

deed  this  second  story  is  often  given  long  before  it  is 
needed,  and  sometimes  two  empty  stories  are  given,  for  it 
is  a  nice  thing  to  have  the  combs  in  the  care  of  the  bees. 
They  will  be  kept  free  from  moths,  and  if  any  are  mouldy 
they  will  be  nicely  cleaned  out  ready  for  use  when  wanted. 

Sometimes  when  a  colony  is  very  strong  and  a  story 
of  empty  combs  is  given  below,  a  frame  of  brood  is  taken 
from  the  upper  story  and  put  below,  an  empty  comb  be- 
ing put  in  its  place  above.  But  unless  the  colony  is  very 
strong,  this  hinders  rather  than  helos  the  buildins:  vr>. 

I  may  say  here  that  after  a  good  deal  of  experience 
with  colonies  having  two  stories,  I  find  that  there  is  no 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  115 

trouble  from  having  the  queen  stay  exclusively  in  one  or 
other  of  the  stories.  She  passes  up  and  down  freely, 
keeping  filled  with  brood  in  both  stories  as  many  combs 
as  the  bees  will  care  for. 

SUBSEQUENT    OVERHAULING. 

Any  overhauling  subsequent  to  the  first,  is  an  easy 
matter.  As  a  broodless  frame  was  left  at  the  farther  side 
at  the  first  ovehauling,  and  the  brood-nest  commenced 
with  the  next  frame,  I  can  count  that  the  bees  will  con- 
tinue this  arrangement,  only  in  some  cases  there  will  be 
brood  found  in  the  outside  frame.  So  in  any  examina- 
tion after  the  first,  I  commence  at  the  near  side  and  when 
I  come  to  the  first  frame  of  brood,  I  need  go  no  further, 
for  I  know  that  the  brood-nest  will  occupy  all  the  rest  of 
the  combs  except  the  outside  one.  If  they  have  not  plenty 
of  feed,  of  course  it  can  be  given,  although  it  may  not 
often  be  necessary  to  give  stores  the  second  time,  for  in 
this  locality  they  can  get  good  supplies  from  fruit-bloom. 
I  suppose  they  can  forage  upon  10,000  fruit-trees  without 
going  a  mile. 

If,  however,  the  first  frame  of  brood  I  come  to,  con- 
tains only  sealed  brood,  I  must  look  further  to  see  whether 
they  have  eggs  or  very  young  brood,  for  it  is  possible 
they  may  have  become  queenless.  If  eggs  are  plentiful, 
but  no  unsealed  brood,  I  know  that  they  have  a  young 
queen  which  has  commenced  laying,  and  I  must  find  her 
and  clip  her  wings. 

If  there  is  nothing  but  sealed  brood,  and  no  eggs,  I 
am  not  sure  whether  they  have  a  queen  or  not,  and  it  is 
not  safe  to  give  them  one  till  I  do  know,  so  I  give  them, 
from  another  colony,  a  comb  containing  eggs  and  young 
brood.  I  make  a  record  of  giving  them  this  young  brood 
thus:  "May  20,  no  eg  gybr,"  (no  eggs;  gave  young 
brood,)  and  in  perhaps  a  week  I  look  to  see  in  what  con- 
dition they  are.  If  I  find  queen-cells  started  I  am  pretty 
sure  they  have  no  queen. 


116  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

OUEEXLESS    COLONIES. 

What  shall  be  done  in  that  case  depends.  If  the 
colony  is  weak,  it  is  at  once  broken  up,  brood  and  bees  be- 
ing given  wherever  they  may  be  needed,  and  I  heave  a 
sigh  of  relief  to  think  I  am  rid  of  the  weakling.  If  it  is 
strong — an  accident  may  have  happened  to  the  queen  of 
a  strong  colony  at  the  last  overhauling — it  may  be  broken 
up  and  the  brood  and  bees  distributed  where  they  will  do 
the  most  good,  but  more  likely  a  weaker  colony  with  a 
good  queen  will  be  united  with  it.  Just  possibly,  the 
queen-cells  started  may  be  allowed  to  go  on  to  completion. 

BROOD  AS   A   STIMULANT. 

If  it  happened  that  they  had  a  virgin  queen  when  the 
young  brood  was  given  them,  the  presence  of  this  brood  is 
supposed  to  stimulate  the  queen  to  lay  the  sooner,  and  I 
may  find  eggs  on  this  later  inspection.  It  may  be,  how- 
ever, that  I  shall  find  neither  eggs  nor  queen-cell,  in  which 
case  I  consider  it  probable  that  they  have  a  queen  which 
has  not  yet  commenced  to  lay,  and  they  are  left  for  ex- 
amination later. 

LAYING   WORKERS. 

Although  laying  workers  are  not  so  likely  to  be 
found  early  in  the  year,  it  is  still  possible.  In  some  cases 
the  scattered  condition  of  the  brood  awakens  immediate 
suspicion.  This  scattered  condition  is  shown  in  Fig.  59, 
but  the  picture  does  not  clearly  show  how  the  sealed  brood 
projects  above  the  surface  like  so  many  little  marbles, 
being  thus  projected  because  drone-brood  is  in  worker- 
cells. 

Often  the  presence  of  laying  workers  can  be  detected 
before  there  is  any  sealed  brood,  by  the  fact  that  drone- 
cells  are  chosen  in  preference  to  ^vorker-cells,  that  is, 
drone-cells  will  be  filled  with  eggs  or  brood — perhaps  two 
or  more  eggs  in  a  cell — while  plenty  of  unused  worker- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  117 

cells  seem  handy.  Eggs  in  queen-cells  are  also  likely  to 
be  found,  and  if  you  find  a  queen-cell  with  more  than 
one  Qgg  in  it  you  may  be  pretty  sure  laying  workers  have 
set  up  business.  Sometimes  a  dozen  of  eggs  may  be 
found  in  one  queen-cell.  An  egg  in  a  queen-cell  with  no 
other  brood  or  eggs  present  is  a  pretty  sure  sign  of 
laying  workers. 

TREATMENT    OF    LAYING-WORKER    COLONIES. 

When  a  colony  of  laying  workers  is  found  early  in 
the  season,  about  the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  break  it  up, 
and  it  matters  little  what  is  done  with  the  bees.  They  are 
old,  and  of  little  value.  Indeed,  there  are  never  any  very 
young  bees  with  laying  workers,  when  the  bees  are 
Italians  or  blacks,  and  it  may  be  the  best  thing  in  all 
cases  to  break  them  up,  distributing  the  bees  and  combs 
to  other  colonies. 

Yet  if  a  strong  colony  is  found  at  any  time  with 
laying  workers,  and  if,  for  any  reason,  it  may  seem  de- 
sirable to  continue  the  colony,  a  queen-cell,  or  a  virgin 
queen  just  hatched  may  be  given,  for  it  is  not  easy  to  get 
them  to  accept  a  laying  queen. 

DRONE-LAYING   QUEENS. 

Drone-brood  in  worker-cells  may  be  present  with  no 
laying  workers — the  work  of  a  drone-laying  or  failing 
queen.  The  brood  in  that  case,  however,  will  not  be  so 
scattering  as  in  Fig.  59.  Such  a  colony  is  more  amenable 
to  treatment,  and  can  be  well  utilized  by  uniting  with  a 
weak  colony  having  a  laying  queen. 

BREAKING   UP   FAULTY    COLONIES. 

When  fruit  blossoms  are  about  ready  to  burst  forth, 
and  bees  are  carrying  pollen  whenever  it  is  warm  enough, 
I  do  not  expect  to  lose  any  more  colonies  except  those 
that  are  queenless  or  have  faulty  queens.  But  I  do  expect 
to  have  the  satisfaction  of  breaking  up  every  colony  that 


118 


FIFTY  YEARS    A.MONG  THE  BEES 


does  not  have  a  good  queen,  for  when  I  find  a  colony  that 
is  queenless  or  one  whose  queen  is  more  or  less  a  drone- 
layer,  it  is  no  longer  any  satisfaction  to  me  to  nurse  it 
and  coax  it  along  for  the  sake  of  saying  1  haven't  lost 
that  colony.  The  real  satisfaction  is  in  having  it  out  of 
the  way.  Time  was  when  it  seemed  a  nice  thing  in  case 
of  finding  a  strong  colony  without  a  queen  to  give  it  young 


P^g-   37 — Painted    Tin   Hive-Covers. 

brood  and  let  it  rear  a  queen  ;  but  much  observation  has 
shown  that  a  queen  reared  thus  early  is  only  an  aggrava- 
tion nine  times  out  of  ten.  So  when  a  colony  is  found 
that  is  not  queen-right,  it  is  remorselessly  broken  up,  and 
distributed  amongst  other  colonies,  or  united  with  a  weak 
colony  having  a  good  queen.  The  breaking  up  of  such 
colonies  does  not  make  the  number  less  in  the  long  run, 
for  by  fall  the  number  can  be  made  greater  than  if  no 
breaking  up  had  taken  place. 

RECORD  ENTRIES. 

While  care  is  taken  to  omit  no  entry  in  the  book  that 
will  be  of  future  importance,  there  is  really  not  such  a 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  119 

great  deal  of  writing  done,  as  will  be  readily  understood 
when  it  is  remembered  that  only  one  page  is  allotted  to 
three  colonies,  allowing  only  22  square  inches  for  each. 
It  is  seldom  that  a  colony  requires  more  than  its  allotted 
space  in  the  season,  hardly  half  the  space  being  used 
on  the  average.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  monotony  about 
the  entries,  and  there  are  a  few  words  which  are  so  fre- 
quently used  that  abbreviations  aid  much  in  saving  room 
and  time  for  making  the  entries.  Some  abbreviations 
that  are  constantly  used  are  as  follows :  b  for  bees,  br  for 
brood,  c  or  qc  for  queen-cell,  g  for  gave,  k  for  killed  or 
destroyed  (kc  means  I  destroyed  the  queen-cells),  q  for 
queen,  s  for  saw,  but  sc  means  sealed  queen-cell,  t  for 
took,  V  for  virgin  queen,  Q  for  super. 

PLACE  FOR  PENCIL. 

To  make  sure  of  having  a  pencil  always  handy  to 
make  entries,  it  is  tied  to  the  book,  as  also  is  a  pair  of  scis- 
sors for  clipping  queens  unless  the  latter  is  replaced  by  a 
pair  of  pocket  scissors.  A  strong  string  is  put  in  the 
middle  of  the  book,  passed  around  the  back  and  tied,  and 
to  this  is  tied  a  long  string  that  holds  the  pencil,  and  an- 
other for  the  scissors.  To  prevent  the  scissors  hanging 
open  with  its  two  shaps  points,  a  common  rubber  band 
is  so  fastened  on  the  handles  as  to  hold  them  together. 
\Vhile  the  band  holds  the  scissors  together  when  not  in 
use,  its  elasticity  allows  their  free  use  when  needed. 

KILLING  GRASS. 

This  is  a  good  time  to  salt  the  ground  at  and  about 
the  entrances  of  the  hives,  to  kill  the  grass,  although  too 
often  I  leave  it  till  it  has  to  be  cut  with  a  sickle.  Grass 
growing  in  front  of  the  hive  annoys  the  bees,  and  that 
growing  at  the  side  annoys  the  operator,  especially  if  the 
operator  is  of  the  female  persuasion,  and  the  grass  is  wet 
with  dew  or  rain. 


120  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


HARBINGERS  OF  HARVEST. 

There  are  certain  things  always  noticed  by  a  bee- 
keeper, with  much  interest,  as  heralding  the  beginning 
of  spring  or  of  the  honey-harvest.  Among  these  are  the 
singing  of  frogs,  the  advent  of  bluebirds,  and  the  opening 
of  various  blossoms.  With  me  the  highest  interest  centers 
in  white  clover.  As  I  go  back  and  forth  to  the  out- 
apiaries,  I  am  always  watching  the  patches  of  white  clover 


Fig.  s8 — Zinc  Hive-Covers. 

along  the  roadside.  If  your  attention  has  never  been 
called  to  it,  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  long  it  is 
from  the  time  the  first  blossom  may  be  seen,  till  clover 
opens  out  so  bees  will  work  upon  it.  I  usually  see  a  stray 
blossom  days  before  it  seems  to  have  any  company.  In 
my  location  I  do  not  count  upon  anything  usually  besides 
white  clover  for  surplus,  so  no  wonder  I  am  interested 
in  it. 

VARIOUS   HOXEY-PLANTS. 

\>t  there  are  a  good  many  other  plqjits  whose  help, 
all  taken  together,  is  not  to  be  despised.     If  I  kept  only  a 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  121 

few  colonies,  it  is  quite  possible  that  I  might  secure  some 
surplus  from  more  than  one  of  them. 

Dandelions  help  no  little  in  brood-rearing. 

Raspberries  are  eagerly  visited  by  the  bees,  but  there 
are  not  enough  of  them  to  give  a  noticeable  amount  of 
raspberry  honey.  It  is  a  very  pleasant  sight  to  see  the 
bees  thickly  covering  a  field  of  raspeberries  in  full  bloom 
(Fig.  45). 

Red  clover  may  yet  be  of  importance.  Whether  it 
be  the  change  in  the  bees  or  the  change  in  the  season  I  do 
not  know,  but  formerly  I  never  saw  a  bee  on  red  clover 
except  at  rare  intervals,  and  now  it  is  quite  common.  I 
think  it  may  be  that  the  bees  are  different. 

Alsike  clover  is  becoming  common. 

SWEET  CLOVER. 

It  is  hard  to  tell  just  how  much,  but  I  think  the  bees 
gather  quite  a  little  from  sweet  clover  (Fig.  46).  The 
earlier  part  of  the  sweet  clover  bloom  is  probably  of  no 
great  value,  because  it  comes  at  the  same  time  as  white 
clover,  but  it  continues  after  white  clover  is  gone,  thus 
making  it  of  greater  value.  It  has  a  habit  of  throwing 
out  fresh  shoots  of  blossoms  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
stalk  after  the  whole  stalk  has  gone  to  seed  and  appears 
dead,  and  thus  it  continues  the  blooming  season  till  freez- 
ing weather  comes  on.  A  branch  of  this  kind  will  be 
seen  at  the  right  in  Fig.  46.    I  value  sweet  clover  for  hay. 

Yellow  sweet  clover  blooms  from  2  to  4  weeks  earlier 
than  white  sweet  clover,  and  on  that  account  is  of  less 
value  in  a  year  when  common  white  clover  yields  well. 
But  in  the  years  when  common  white  clover  is  a  failure 
yellow  sweet  clover  may  be  of  very  great  value,  for  so 
far  as  I  know  there  are  no  years  of  failure  with  either 
kind  of  sweet  clover.  There  may  be  no  small  advantage 
in  having  the  annual  variety  of  yellow  sweet  clover. 

Alfalfa  (Fig.  47)  is  not  plenty  here.  It  is  a  rare 
thing  to  see  a  bee  at  work  upon  it,  and  I  think  it  is  gener- 
ally understood  that  it  does  not  yield  nectar  east  of  the 


122  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

Mississippi.  But  the  experiment  station  says  that  if  the 
land  in  Illinois  be  inoculated  with  some  of  the  soil  from 
the  proper  alfalfa  regions  of  the  West,  it  will  grow  as  well 
here.  If  they  can  make  changes  in  its  growth,  is  it  not 
just  possible  that  it  may  yet  become  a  honey-plant  here? 

GIANT    WHITE    CLOVER. 

A  new  honey-plant  was  mentioned  a  good  deal  in 
foreign  bee- journals,  a  giant  white  clover,  called  Colossal 
Ladino  (Fig.  48).  I  succeeded  in  getting  some  seed 
from  Switzerland,  sowed  a  few  of  them  in  the  window 
in  the  winter,  and  had  the  plants  blooming  in  the 
summer  of  1902.  For  the  purpose  of  comparison  you 
will  see  in  Fig.  4(S,  at  the  right,  a  branch  of  red  clover, 
and  at  the  left  a  plant  of  common  white  or  Dutch  clover, 
both  grown  on  the  same  ground.  As  you  will  see  by 
looking  at  the  picture,  the  new  plant  has  leaves  as  large 
as  those  of  red  clover  and  in  appearance  I  think  they  are 
identical.  The  blossom,  however,  which  you  will  see 
toward  the  left,  looks  precisely  like  a  large  white  clover 
blossom.  The  habit  of  growth,  too,  is  that  of  the  com- 
mon white  clover,  running  along  the  ground  and  taking 
root  as  it  goes.  A  look  at  the  picture  will  show  this,  the 
roots  being  seen  coming  from  the  stalk  at  the  left. 

Just  how  much  value  there  is  in  this  new  clover  I  do 
not  know.  As  will  be  seen,  it  grows  much  larger  than 
the  common  white,  but  only  as  its  leaves  and  leaf  stems 
are  larger,  for  it  does  not  grow  up  and  throw  out  branches 
like  red  clover.     It  died  out  the  second  winter. 

LINDEN,  CATNIP,   GOLDENRQD,  ASTERS,  HEARTSEASE. 

Linden  or  basswood  (Fig.  49)  is  a  scarce  article,  the 
flavor  of  linden  honey  being  seldom  perceptible  in  any 
honey  stored  by  my  bees.  I  take  great  pleasure,  how- 
ever, in  the  sight  of  a  row  of  lindens  running  from  the 
public  road  up  to  the  house  (Fig.  50). 

Catnip  (Fig.  51)  is  scattered  about,  in  some  places 
quite  plentiful  where  it  has  the  protection  of  hedges,  for 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  123 

which  it  seems  to  have  a  great  Hking.  It  has  a  long  sea- 
son. 

Goldenrod  (Fig.  52)  grows  in  abundance  in  several 
varieties,  and  while  other  insects  may  be  seen  upon  it  in 
great  numbers,  a  bee  is  seldom  seen  upon  it.  ^luch  the 
same  may  be  said  of  the  asters  (Figs.  53  and  54).  In 
some  other  places  both  these  plants  are  said  to  be  well 
visited  by  the  bees. 

The  summer  of  1002  was  very  wet,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  my  observation  heartsease  (Fig.  55)  was  busily 
worked  upon  by  the  bees.  Probably  it  was  not  plenty 
enough  before.  At  any  rate  it  has  now  become  a  honey- 
plant  of  importance.  In  some  localities  heartsease  is,  I  be- 
lieve, the  chief  honey-plant,  producing  amber  honey. 
But  I  tJiiiik  it  yields  very  light  honey  here. 

CUCUMBERS. 

I  think  the  white  clover  crop,  for  some  reason,  is 
more  unreliable  than  it  was  years  ago.  Some  years  there 
is  a  profusion  of  clover  bloom,  but  there  seems  to  be  no 
nectar  in  it.  As  some  compensation,  I  think  there  is 
more  fall  pasturage  than  formerly.  One  reason  for  this 
is  that  two  pickle  factories  are  located  at  IMarenisro,  and 
my  bees  have  the  run  of  one  or  two  hundred  acres  of 
cucumbers.  And  yet  I  must  confess  that  I  am  not  at  all 
sure  what  cucumber  honey  is.  Sometimes  the  honey 
stored  at  the  time  of  cucumber  bloom  is  objectionable  in 
flavor,  and  sometimes  the  flavor  is  fine.  Two  or  three 
years  the  bees  at  the  Hastings  apiary  stored  in  the  fall 
some  fine  honey,  remarkable  for  whiteness,  and  Fve  no 
idea  what  it  was  gathered  from  unless  it  was  heartsease. 
On  the  w^hole  I  am  in  a  poor  honey  region,  and  would 
have  sought  a  tetter  one  long  ago  but  for  ties  other  than 
the  bees. 

ARTIFICIAL    PASTURAGE. 

I  have  made  some  effort  to  increase  the  pasturage  for 
my  bees.     Of  spider-plant  I  raised  only  a  few  plants.     It 


12  i 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


seemed  too  difficult  to  raise  to  make  me  care  to  experi- 
ment with  it  on  a  larger  scale.  Possibly  if  I  knew  better 
how  to  manage  it,  the  difficulty  might  disappear.  Or,  on 
other  soil  it  might  be  less  difficult  to  manage.  The  same 
might  be  said  of  the  other  things  I  have  tried.  My  soil 
,is  clay  loam,  and  hilly,  although  I  live  in  a  prairie  State. 
I  am  at  least  a  mile  distant  from  prairie  soil.  I  had  an 
acre  of  as  fine  figwort  as  one  would  care  to  see.  It  died 
root  and  branch  the  second  winter ;  even  the  young  plants 
that  had  come  from  seed  the  previous  summer.     It  was 


Fig-    39— Hive-Stand. 


on  the  lowest  ground  I  had,  very  rich,  and  much  like 
prairie. 

\Mien  the  boom  for  Chapman's  honey-plant  (echin- 
ops  spherocephalus)  was  on,  I  was  among  the  first  to  get 
it,  and  I  succeeded  in  having  a  large  patch.  Bees  were 
on  it  in  large  numbers,  but  close  observation  showed  that 
a  great  proportion  of  them  were  loafing  as  if  something 
about  the  plant  had  made  them  drunk.  I  concluded  I  did 
not  get  nectar  enough  from  it  to  pay  for  the  use  of  the 
land,  to  say  nothing  of  cultivation. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  125 

One  year  I  raised  half  an  acre  of  sunflowers,  and  I 
have  tried  other  things,  but  have  given  them  up. 

APPLE-BLOOM. 

Quite  likely  if  a  second  crop  of  apple-bloom  came  a 
month  or  two  later  than  the  usual  time,  I  might  get  some 
surplus  from  that ;  but  coming  so  early  I  think  there  are 
hardly  bees  enough  to  store  it.  Still,  the  bees  are  at  this 
time  using  large  quantities  of  honey  for  brood,  and  so 
the  apple-bloom  is  of  very  great  value.  Another  ad- 
vantage is  that  the  great  quantity  of  bloom  has  somewhat 
the  effect  of  prolonging  its  time,  for  the  latest  blossoms, 
that  \vith  a  few  trees  would  amount  to  little  or  nothing, 
are  enough  to  keef)  the  bees  busy.  So  it  happens  that 
often  I  can  scarcely  recognize  any  interim  between  fruit- 
bloom  and  clover.  A  few  items  from  a  memorandum  for 
1882  may  be  interesting: 

MEMORANDA  OF  1882. 

Apr.  -1. — Last  bees  taken  out  of  cellar. 

^lay  8. — Plum-bloom  out.  Bees  still  work  on  meal 
and  sugar  syrup. 

May  10. — Wild  plum,  dandelion,  cherry,  pear,  Si- 
berian, Duchess  of  Oldenberg. 

]\Iay  31. — Saw  first  clover  blossom. 

June  5. — Apple  about  done. 

June  12. — Commenced  giving  supers. 

June  13. — Clover  full  bloom — plentiful. 

June  20. — Locus  out. 

Aug.  1. — Clover  failing. 

Aug.  5. — Robber  bees  trouble. 

You  will  notice  that  the  earliest  apple-bloom 
(  Duchess  of  Oldenberg)  commenced  May  10,  while  the 
Janets  and  other  late  bloomers  were  still  in  blossom  on 
June  5,  several  days  after  the  first  clover  was  seen,  mak- 
ing about  four  weeks  of  apple-bloom.  Possibly  this  was 
unusual — certainly  the  clover  lasted  unusually  long,  be- 


126 


FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 


ing  aborT  T>4  weeks  from  the  time  the  bees  commenced 
working  on  it,  for  they  do  not  seem  to  commence  work 
till  after  the  blossoms  have  been  out  some  time. 


TIME  FOR  GIVING  SUPERS. 


Y^ou  see  that  I  did  not  commence  putting  on  supers 
till  r2  days  after  I  saw  the  first  clover-blossom,  and  if  I 
had  had  only  a  dozen  colonies,  I  might  have  waited  later, 


Fig.   40 — Original  Miller  Feeder. 


but  with  a  large  number  I  must  commence  in  time  so  that 
all  shall  be  on  as  soon  as  needed.  Usually  I  put  on  supers 
as  nearly  as  convenient  to  ten  days  after  seeing  the  very 
first  white  clover  blossom.  A  little  time  before  bees  com- 
mence work  in  supers,  little  bits  of  pure,  white  wax  will 
be  seen  stuck  on  the  old  comb  about  the  upper  part,  yet  I 
hardly  wait  for  this,  but  go  rather  by  the  clover. 

Another  year  (1884),  I  saw  the  first  clover-blossom 
on  May  21,  apple  being  still  in  full  bloom;  and  I  com- 
menced putting  on  supers  June  2.  One  year,  I  remember^ 
clover  failed  on  July  4,  the  earliest  l'  ever  remember. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  127 

MEMORANDA   OF    1901. 

Turning  to  another  year,  the  year  1901,  I  give  a  few 
•entries : 

March  17 — Bluebirds,  prairie  chickens,  robins,  larks. 

March  25. — Frogs. 

April  5. — Soft  maple. 

April  28. — Dandelion. 

May  1. — Hard  maple,  plum. 

May  2.— Cherry. 

May  5. — Apple"! 

May  6. — Strawberry. 

May  23.— White  clover. 

June  20. — Sweet  clover. 

June  29. — Linden. 

WHITE  CLOVER  UNCERTAIN. 

That  year,  1901,  had  perhaps  the  finest  show  of  white 
clover  bloom  ever  known,  but  it  was  a  dead  failure,  per- 
haps on  account  of  the  terrible  drouth,  although  some- 
times white  clover  blossoms  bountifully  and  fails  to  yield 
lioney  when  nothing  that  can  be  seen  in  the  way  of 
weather  is  at  all  at  fault.  About  the  middle  of  August 
the  bees  began  storing,  perhaps  from  cucumbers  and 
sweet  clover,  and  gave  a  surplus  of  16  pounds  a  colony. 
It  would  have  been  better  to  have  had  it  all  stored  in 
lirood-frames,  I  think. 

The  following  year,  1902,  was  still  more  exceptional. 
As  already  told,  the  bees  would  have  starved  in  June  but 
ior  feeding,  yet  later  on  they  did  some  good  work,  some 
colonies  yielding  as  much  as  72  sections.  The  bulk  of 
this  was  stored  toward  the  last  of  August  or  later. 

Fig.  70  is  from  a  photo  taken  Oct.  1.  In  the  picture 
the  bee  appears  to  be  perfectly  still,  but  these  are  not  mov- 
ing pictures,  and  I  assure  you  that  that  bee  was  in  Very 
lively  motion  when  taken. 

OVERSTOCKING. 

To  a  bee-keeper  who  has  more  bees  than  he  thinks 
advisable  to  keep  in  the  home  apiary,  pasturage  and  over- 


128  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

stocking  are  subjects  of  intense  interest.  The  two  sub- 
jects are  intimately  connected.  They  are  subjects  so  elu- 
sive, so  difficult  to  learn  anything  about  very  positively, 
that  if  I  could  well  help  myself,  I  think  I  should  dismiss 
them  altogether  from  contemplation.  But  like  Banquo's 
ghost,  they  will  not  down.  I  must  decide,  whether  I  will 
or  not,  how  many  colonies  will  overstock  the  home  field, 
unless  I  make  the  idiotic  determination  to  keep  all  at  home 
with  the  almost  certain  result  of  obtaining  no  surplus.  I 
do  not  expect  ever  to  have  any  positive  knowledge  upon 
the  subject,  because  if  I  could  find  out  with  certainty  just 
what  number  of  colonies  a  given  area  would  support  in 
one  year,  I  have  no  kind  of  assurance  that  the  same  kind 
of  a  year  will  ever  occur  again.  So  I  act  upon  the  guess 
that  in  my  locality  it  is  never  wise  to  have  more  than  100 
colonies  in  one  apiary,  and  possibly  75  would  be  better. 

SURPLUS  ARRANGEMENTS. 


The  first  surplus  honey  I  obtained  worth  mentioning 
was  secured  in  boxes  holding  somewhere  from  6  to  10 
pounds.  The  boxes  had  glass  on  one  or  more  sides,  and 
were  placed  on  the  top  of  box-hives.  Then  for  a  year  or 
more  my  surplus  was  extracted  honey  obtained  with  the 
old  Peabody  extractor  (Fig.  2),  in  which  the  whole  affair, 
can  and  all,  revolves. 

SECTIONS. 

Then  I  started  on  sections  of  the  four-piece  kind,  and 
later  used  one-piece.  I  have  used  the  4^x4^x1% 
size  much  more  than  any  other.  I  have  used  a  few  hun- 
dreds of  the  tall  sections,  but  my  market  does  not  seem 
to  like  them  any  better,  if  as  well,  as  the  square  sections. 
I  have  tried  4^4  square  sections  of  several  widths,  1  15-16 
inches  wide,  7  to  the  foot,  also  8,  9,  and  10  to  the  foot.  I 
have  made  some  trial  of  plain  sections,  but  for  my  market 
I  am  not  sure  that  there  is  advantage  enough  in  them  to 
make  me  change  from  the  two-bee-way  sections. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  129 

T  SUPERS. 

The  T  supers  I  use  are  12yg  wide  inside,  just  right 
for  8-frame  hives.  Just  why  I  adopted  this  size  I  do  not 
know,  for  at  that  time  I  was  using  10-frame  hives,  and  it 
was  a  Httle  awkward  to  use  a  super  so  much  narrower 
than  the  hive.  But  at  least  part  of  the  time  I  used  only 
eight  frames  in  the  10-frame  hives. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  A  T  SUPER. 

So  many  have  asked  how  to  make  a  T  super  that  it 
may  be  well  to  give  directions  here.  It  is  a  plain  box 
without  top  or  bottom,  the  inside  width  being  the  same 
as  that  of  the  hive,  and  the  depth  ^  inch  more  than  the 
depth  of  the  sections  to  be  used.  Mine  being  for  the 
8-frame  dovetailed  hive,  and  for  4:%  x  4^  sections,  are 
17^  inches  long,  inside  measure,  12^  inches  wide,  and 
41^  inches  deep.  If  they  were  all  to  be  made  over  again, 
I  think  I  might  prefer  to  have  them  %  inch  shorter. 
Unless  the  lumber  is  very  thoroughly  seasoned,  the  depth 
should  be  a  little  more  than  ^  inch  more  than  the  depth 
of  the  sections.  To  support  the  sections,  three  T  tins 
are  needed,  and  there  must  be  something  to  support  these 
T  tins,  3  supports  on  each  side.  With  your  super  lying 
before  you  upside  down,  make  a  mark  on  the  edge  of 
each  side  at  the  middle.  Xow,  half  way  between  this 
mark  and  each  inside  end  of  the  super,  make  another 
mark.  Those  3  marks  on  each  side  will  tell  you  where 
the  middle  of  each  support  is  to  be.  Most  of  my  supers 
have  for  these  6  supports  pieces  of  sheet  iron  l>^xl 
inch.  Lay  the  piece  flat  on  the  edge  of  the  side  of  the 
super,  and  fasten  it  by  2  nails  about  %  inch  from  the 
inside  edge  of  the  side  of  the  super.  As  the  wall  of 
the  super  is  %  thick,  that  will  allow  the  support  to  pro- 
ject inside  about  ^  inch,  and  the  support  is  of  course  1 
inch  wide.  Some  of  the  latest  of  my  supers,  instead  of 
these  squares  of  sheet  iron,  have  staples  as  supports.  A 
staple  is  driven  in  about  ^  inch  from  the  inside  edge, 


330  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

then  bent  over  and  hammered  down  flat.  The  staples  are 
an  inch  wide.  To  support  the  sections  at  each  end  of 
the  super  a  strip  of  tin  is  nailed  on.  It  is  13^  x  S/g,  and 
is  nailed  on  so  as  to  project  inward  ^4  inch.  The  12-inch 
T  tins  are  bought  ready  made.  The  super  is  hardly  long 
enough  to  close  the  top  of  the  hive.  I  like  this.  When 
the  harvest  is  booming  I  let  the  super  be  shoved  forward 
enough  so  there  will  be  at  the  back  end  a  space  of  ^4 
inch  for  ventilation,  which  is  an  important  factor  to  pre- 
vent swarming.  But  the  sections  near  this  ventilation 
will  not  be  finished  so  rapidly,  and  at  the  beginning  and 
toward  the  close  of  the  season  a  cleat  is  nailed  on  the 
super  to  close  fully  the  opening.  Yet  I  remember  at 
least  one  year  when  it  worked  the  other  way,  and  the 
sections  were  sealed  sooner  at  the  open  end  than  at  the 
closed  end.  Perhaps  it  was  because  the  weather  was 
very  hot. 

The  separators  used  are  plain  wood,  and  are  gener- 
ally bought  new  every  year,  for  it  is  about  as  cheap  to 
buy  new  as  to  clean  the  old,  and  more  satisfactory.  The 
usual  follower  fills  out  the  super,  wedged  in  with  a  super 
spring. 

SUPER  SPRINGS. 

Until  the  introduction  of  super  springs,  my  supers 
of  sections  were  wedged  together  by  crowding  in  behind 
the  follower  a  straight  stick  about  as  long  as  the  inside 
length  of  the  super,  and  3^  x  ^  inch.  I  find  the  super 
springs  a  very  great  improvement.  When  the  sections 
are  filled  into  the  super,  the  corners,  which  have  been 
wet.  are  not  yet  entirely  dry,  and  no  matter  how  tightly 
wedged,  as  they  dry  out  there  will  be  a  shrinkage  of  the 
contents  of  the  super,  so  that  in  some  cases  the  wedge- 
stick  will  drop  down.  The  metal  springs  will  adjust 
themselves  to  this,  and  continue  to  press  the  sections  to- 
gether, although  with  less  force,  after  all  have  entirely 
dried  out.  It  is  easier  to  put  the  springs  in,  and  very 
much  easier  to  take  them  out.  In  a  word,  the  sticks  are 
not  always  a  fit,  and  the  springs  are. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  131 

Another  thing  of  perhaps  still  more  importance  is 
that  the  stick,  being  crowded  in  diagonally,  forms  a 
pocket  in  which  the  bees  are  apt  to  congregate  when  one 
is  trying  to  get  them  out  of  the  super,  and  it  is  very 
hard  to  dislodge  them  from  this  pocket.  The  springs 
form  no  such  pocket. 

I  am  not  sure  whether  it  is  better  to  use  one  spring 
or  two  to  a  super. 

The  T  tins  are  not  fastened  to  the  super,  but  loose 
(Fig.  5.) 

SECTIONS   READY  IN   ADVANCE. 

The  work  of  getting  sections  and  supers  ready  for 
use  has  been  all  done  long  before  the  time  for  putting  on, 
and  something  will  be  said  about  how  that  work  is  done. 

At  the  time  the  supers  are  needed  for  putting  on 
the  hives,  they  are  all  nicely  piled  up  in  the  store-room 
of  the  shop,  ready  to  carry  out. 

\>ars  ago  I  though  I  was  doing  pretty  well  if  I  had 
ready  in  advance  as  much  as  4  supers  filled  with  sections 
for  each  colony.  Certainly,  if  I  could  average,  one  year 
with  another,  96  finished  sections  per  colony,  it  would 
not  be  such  a  bad  thing.  But  if  preparation  is  to  be  made 
in  advance,  it  must  be  not  for  an  average  crop,  but  for 
the  largest  crop  possible.  Allowance  must  be  made,  too, 
for  unfinished  sections  that  will  be  taken  off  at  the  close 
of  the  season,  and  also  for  a  good  many  that  the  bees 
have  not  begun  on  at  all.  Being  caught  short  of  sections 
and  having  to  get  them  ready  right  in  the  rush  of  harvest 
made  me  change  my  mind  as  to  the  number  that  should 
be  ready  in  advance.  Several  times  I  had  to  chance  my 
mind,  each  time  setting  the  mark  a  little  higher,  for  as 
the  years  went  by  the  yields  of  big  years  became  bigger. 
One  reason  for  this  was  no  doubt  the  improvement  in 
pasturage.  Another  was  the  improvement  in  bees  by  con- 
tinuous breeding  from  the  best  storers. 

AN    EMPHATIC    SEASON. 

The  year  1903  was  one  of  the  years  that  emphasized 
the  need  of  having  a  big  stock  of  sections  ready  in  ad- 


332  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

vance.  It  emphasized  also  the  variableness  of  the  sea- 
sons. Another  item  of  no  small  importance  was  the  har- 
vests of  the  present  and  future  as  compared  with  the  past. 
Some  have  said  that  with  the  advance  of  civilization,  the 
plow  and  the  ax  have  cut  off  our  resources  for  nectar, 
and  we  are  no  more  to  expect  such  crops  as  we  have 
had  in  the  past.  We  shall  see  where  the  year  1903  put 
the  emphasis  in  that  matter. 

A  furnace  put  in  the  cellar  somewhat  late  the  pre- 
vious winter  had  made  bad  work  with  the  wintering,  so 
that  by  the  12th  of  May,  1903,  I  could  muster  only  124 
colonies  all  told,  and  some  of  them  were  very  weak 
indeed.  The  dense  carpet  of  white  clover  promised  well, 
provided  the  weather  was  good  (as  it  turned  out  there 
was  too  much  cold  and  wet  for  best  expectations),  but 
enough  supers  were  piled  ready-filled  to  satisfy  any  rea- 
sonable demands.  The  cool,  wet  weather  hindered  stor- 
ing no  little,  but  was  no  doubt  an  advantage  in  the  long 
run,  for  it  kept  the  clover  growing  and  blowing,  and  I 
don't  know  really  when  it  did  cease  to  yield. 

The  season  was  remarkably  early,  so  that  second 
stories  were  given  some  colonies  by  May  13,  and  May 
25  we  began  giving  supers.  Three  days  later  there  were 
evidences  of  abundant  storing.  July  1  we  began  taking 
off  supers,  and  from  that  on  had  a  busy  time  both  taking 
off  and  putting  on.  Xo  trouble  with  robber-bees  ;  supers 
could  be  set  on  hives  and  left  till  the  bees  all  ran  out  of 
their  own  accord,  standing  all  day  if  necessary.  This  up 
to  July  18,  after  which  time  the  bees  would  have  spells 
of  letting  up,  only  to  go  at  it  afresh  after  the  pause. 

Finally  it  began  to  dawn  on  us  that  our  stock  of  filled 
supers  was  running  dangerously  low.  More  sections  were 
ordered.  Getting  them  ready  as  needed  was  added  to  our 
already  heavy  task.  We  were  kept  on  the  jump  till  near 
the  middle  of  August.  Then  came  the  National  conven- 
tion at  Los  Angeles.  Some  12,000  finished  sections  wxre 
piled  up  in  the  house,  but  a  lot  more  were  on  the  hives, 
and  I  hesitated  about  going.  But  my  assistant  insisted  I 
should  go ;  the  bees  had  let  up  on  storing,  and  I  thought 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  133 

it  would  do  no  great  harm  to  leave  all  sections  on  till  I 
got  back,  so  I  left  August  12,  getting  back  the  28th. 

Scarcely  had  I  got  out  of  sight  when  the  bees  made  a 
fresh  start  as  fierce  as  ever,  and  gave  Miss  Wilson  the 
busy  time  of  her  life.  Up  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  to 
get  sections  ready,  then  to  one  of  the  apiaries  to  take  off 
and  put  on  supers,  with  no  let-up  in  the  work  of  going 
through  colonies  to  keep  down  swarming.  Yes,  indeed, 
there  was  swarming  galore,  and  had  been  all  through  the 
season.  It  is  generally  understood  that  when  bees  are 
busily  engaged  at  storing  they  give  up  all  thoughts  of 
swarming.  Not  in  1903.  I'm  not  sure  I  ever  knew  so 
bad  a  season  for  swarming.  We  fought  our  best  to  pre- 
vent it,  but  every  now  and  then  the  bees  would  get  the 
start  of  us. 

Some  6,000  finished  sections  were  taken  off  during 
my  16  days'  absence,  and  on  my  return  I  found  every- 
thing about  the  work  kept  up  in  as  good  shape  as  if  I  had 
been  at  home.    And  Miss  Wilson  was  still  alive. 

We  didn't  get  the  last  sections  off  the  hives  till  well 
along  in  September,  and  the  final  footing  up  was  not  con- 
ducive to  despondency.  From  124  colonies,  spring  count, 
we  had  18,150  pounds  of  comb  honey  (about  20,000 
finished  sections),  increasing  to  284  colonies  ;  or,  an  aver- 
age of  more  than  146  pounds  per  colony,  with  129  per 
cent  increase.  As  the  storing  was  mainly  by  one  set  of 
colonies  and  the  increase  by  another,  it  would  perhaps  be 
fairer  to  say  that  100  colonies  averaged  181^  pounds  per 
colony  with  no  increase,  and  that  each  of  the  remaining 
colonies  was  increased  to  7  2-3  colonies  with  no  surplus. 
The  best  colony  gave  300  sections,  and  several  colonies 
Avere  close  on  its  heels. 

NUMBER    OF    SECTIONS    NEEDED    PER    COLONY. 

That  average  of  146  pounds  per  colony  was  equiva- 
lent to  about  160  sections  per  colony.  With  24  sections 
to  the  super,  those  160  sections  would  lack  8  sections  of 
filling  7  supers.    There  were  probably  more  than  8  unfin- 


134 


FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 


ished  and  empty  sections  per  colony,  so  it  will  be  readily 
seen  that  for  another  year  like  1903  it  will  be  a  conserva- 
tive estimate  to  count  on  having  7  supers  of  sections 
ready  in  advance  for  each  colony.  Such  a  year  may 
never  come  again,  but  then  again  it  may.  So  remember- 
ing the  old  saw,  "It  is  better  to  be  ready  and  not  go  than 
to  go  and  not  be  ready,"  it  will  be  the  wise  thing  to  have 


Fig.  41 — Miller  Feeder  Dissected. 

7  supers  filled  in  advance  each  year.  If  they  are  not 
needed  they  will  keep  over  all  right,  even  if  kept  so  long 
as  4  or  5  years. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  well  as  a  general  rule,  to  have 
ready  as  many  as  will  be  needed  in  your  best  year,  and 
then  an  extra  super  besides  for  each  colony.  That,  of 
course,  might  make  it  more,  or  it  might  make  it  less,  than 
7  supers  to  the  colony. 


SHOP  FOR  BEE-WORK. 


The  shop   (Fig.  71)    in  which  the  filled  supers  are 
stored  is  a  plain  wooden  building  18  x  24,  two-story,  with 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  135 

a  bee-cellar  under  it.  The  bee-cellar,  however,  has  not 
been  used  for  some  years.  The  upper  story  is  used  for 
storing  empty  supers,  hives  and  other  articles  not  very 
heavy,  or  such  as  are  not  often  needed.  The  outside 
door  opens  into  the  middle  of  the  east  side  of  the  house 
into  a  store-room  ;  immediately  in  front  of  you  as  you 
enter  are  the  stairs  leading  to  the  upper  story,  and  at 
your  right  a  door  opens  into  the  work-room.  In  this 
work-room  is  a  coal-stove,  and  the  room,  being  ceiled  up, 
is  comfortable  in  the  severest  weather. 

.    ROOM    FOR  QUEEN. 

up  to  the  time  of  putting  on  supers  the  queen  has 
had  unlimited  room  with  the  design  of  encouraging  the 
rearing  of  as  much  brood  as  possible.  When  the  harvest 
begins,  she  may  have  as  much  as  6,  9,  11,  even  up  to  14 
frames  well  occupied  wnth  brood  and  eggs.  A  good  deal 
depends  on  the  season,  as  well  as  the  queen.  At  one  time 
I  thought  I  ought  to  be  able  to  make  a  success  of  continu- 
ing the  two  stories  of  brood-frames  throughout  the  har- 
vest. It  seems  that  when  a  colony  is  so  strong  as  to  have 
12  or  14  frames  of  brood,  there  ought  to  be  no  difficulty 
in  having  good  super-work  done  by  putting  the  supers 
above  the  two  stories ;  and  one  season  of  failure  the  only 
super  I  had  filled  was  on  a  two-story  colony.  But  I  was 
never  able  to  have  that  thing  repeated,  and  whatever  the 
reason  may  be,  I  have  not  been  able  to  make  a  success  of 
putting  comb- honey  supers  on  two-story  colonies.  Even 
if  the  two-story  plan  would  work  all  right  it  involves 
much  extra  lifting. 

REDUCING  TO  ONE  STORY. 

So  before  putting  on  supers  the  colonies  are  reduced 
to  one  story  each.  If  a  colony  has  9,  10,  or  more  frames 
of  brood,  all  but  8  are  taken  away.  The  surplus  frames 
of  brood  are  given  to  those  which  have  less  than  8  frames 
of  brood  each,  the  effort  being  to  have  in  each  hive  8 


136  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

frames  well  filled  with  brood  when  a  super  is  given.  The 
season  may  be  such  that  it  will  not  be  possible  to  have  as 
many  as  8  brood  in  each  hive.  A  colony  strong  enough 
to  have  6  frames  well  filled  with  brood  is  likely  to  be  in 
condition  for  good  super-work,  but  the  work  will  be  better 
if  it  has  7  or  8.  On  the  other  hand  the  season  and  the 
early  condition  of  the  bees  may  be  such  that  when  each 
•colony  is  brought  up  or  down  to  its  8  frames  of  brood,  a 
considerable  surplus  of  brood  may  be  left. 

DISPOSAL  OF   EXTRA  BROOD. 

Circumstances  will  decide  what  shall  be  done  with 
this  extra  brood.  It  may  be  needed  for  building  up  nuclei, 
or  for  new  colonies.  It  may  be  piled  up  temporarily  in 
piles  of  three,  four,  or  five  stories  each,  to  be  used  later 
in  any  manner  desired.  It  does  not  take  three  times  as 
many  bees  to  care  for  the  brood  in  three  stories  as  it  does 
to  care  for  the  brood  in  one  story.  If  two  or  three  stories 
■of  brood  with  adhering  bees  are  piled  up,  in  two  or  three 
weeks  there  will  be  enough  bees  there  so  that  when  re- 
duced to  one  story  it  will  be  all  right  for  super-work. 
Or,  it  may  be  left  just  as  it  is,  and  allowed  to  store  in 
combs  for  the  next  spring's  use. 

BURR-COMBS. 

At  the  time  of  putting  on  supers,  it  is  desirable  that 
there  shall  be  as  Httle  inducement  as  possible  toward  the 
building  of  burr-combs  between  top-bars  and  supers.  A 
very  strong  inducement  of  that  kind  consists  in  the  pres- 
ence of  any  beginnings  of  such  combs  already  there. 
Formerly  I  had  a  space  of  }i  of  an  inch  over  top-bars^ 
and  if  a  super  of  sections  were  placed  directly  on  the  hive^ 
burr-combs  in  abundance  would  be  built. 

HEDDOX    HOXEY-BOARD. 

In  such  conditions  the  Heddon  slat-honey-board 
(Fig.   6)    was  a   boon.      Between  the  top-bars   and  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    A.MONG  THE  BEES 


137 


lioney-board  was  a  mass  of  burr-combs  filled  with  honey, 
making  a  disagreeably  dauby,  sticky,  dripping  mess  when 
the  honey-board  was  removed ;  but  the  space  between  the 
honey-board  and  the  bottoms  of  the  sections  was  left 
"beauti fully  free  from  burr-qombs,  so  the  section  bottoms 
were  left  clean.  This  while  everything  was  new  ;  for  if 
Jioney-boards  were  put  on  a  second  year  without  clean- 


Fig.  42 — Hive-Dummy. 


:ing  there  would  be  the  beginnings  of  burr-combs  between 
honey-board  and  sections,  or  more  than  the  beginnings  if 
the  honey-boards  had  gone  more  than  one  year  without 
■cleaning.  So  at  some  time  before  putting  on  the  honey- 
boards  they  were  carefully  cleaned.  But  cleaning  the 
honey-boards  was  not  enough.  The  tops  of  the  frames 
had  to  be  cleaned  as  well,  and  this  cleaning  was  done  with 
a  common  garden-hoe,  an  assistant  smoking  the  bees  out 
-of  the  way  while  the  top-bars  were  hoed. 

CORRECT  BEE-SPACE. 

It  was  a  great  step  in  advance  when  we  learned  that 
-.instead  of  a  space  of  ^  of  an  inch  there  should  be  only 


138  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES  ' 

y^  inch,  or  perhaps  a  shade  less.  In  other  words  we 
learned  that  a  bee-space,  or  that  space  in  which  bees  were 
least  inclined  to  put  either  comb  or  propolis,  was  a  scant 
quarter  of  an  inch.  With  a  correct  bee-space  between 
top-bars  and  sections,  we  can  dispense  entirely  with  any- 
thing in  the  shape  of  a  honey-board.  There  will  be  a  lit- 
tle trouble  with  the  building  of  bits  of  comb  under  the 
sections,  but  not  enough  to  make  it  worth  while  to  use  a 
honey-board.  But  that  trouble  will  be  greatly  aggravated 
if  there  be  any  beginnings  of  burr-combs  on  the  tops  of 
the  frames  when  supers  are  given.  So  the  tops  must  be 
cleaned  off  wherever  there  is  anything  to  clean  off  before 
the  supers  are  put  on  the  hives. 

THICK    TOP-BARS. 

Another  thing  that  may  help  to  keep  down  burr- 
combs  is  the  thickness  and  width  of  top-bars.  My  top- 
bars  are  ]/%  thick  and  1^  wide,  leaving  a  space  of  ^ 
inch  between  them.  There  are  more  burr-combs  than  I 
like  built  between  them,  and  I  have  wondered  whether 
any  other  space  would  be  better.  If  the  sides  as  well  as 
the  tops  of  the  top-bars  were  cleaned  off  at  the  time  of 
giving  supers,  it  would  help  to  keep  the  bottoms  of  sec- 
tions clean,  but  I  doubt  its  paying. 

THICK    TOP-BARS    FOR    WHITE    SECTIONS. 

Even  if  the  ]/%  thickness  of  top-bar  were  of  no  other 
advantage,  I  should  want  it  for  the  sake  of  keeping  the 
cappings  of  the  sections  white.  At  one  time  I  had  wide- 
frames  of  sections  facing  brood-frames  (the  brood-frames 
were  used  to  bait  the  bees  up  into  the  supers),  and  if  the 
brood-frames  were  left  there  till  the  sections  were  sealed, 
the  sealing  would  be  almost  if  not  quite  as  dark  as  the 
sealing  of  brood-combs.  The  bees  seem  to  carry  bits  of 
the  old,  black  brood-combs  to  use  in  capping  the  sections. 
So  the  thick  top-bar  increasing  the  distance  of  the  sec- 
tions from  the  brood-combs  helps  to  keep  the  former 
whiter. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  139 

NO  EXCLUDER  UNDER  SECTIONS. 

"Before  putting  on  the  super,  would  you  advise  me 
to  put  a  queen-excluder  (Fig.  56 )  over  the  brood-cham- 
ber?" It  would  increase  the  space  between  the  brood- 
combs  and  the  sections,  and  in  that  way  would  be  a 
further  help  toward  prevention  of  dark  cappings  on  the 
sections,  and  it  would  make  a  sure  thing  as  to  preventing 
burr-combs  on  the  bottoms  of  the  sections.  But  I  don't 
believe  there  would  be  enough  advantage  in  both  ways  to 
pay  for  the  excluders. 

I  think  I  hear  you  say,  "But  wouldn't  it  pay  to  u.se 
excluders  for  the  sake  of  keeping  the  queen  out  of  the 
supers?"  I  may  reply  that  the  queen  so  seldom  goes  up 
into  a  siper  that  not  one  section  in  a  hundred,  sometimes 
not  more  than  one  in  a  thousand,  will  be  found  troubled 
with  brood.  So  on  the  whole  I  hardly  think  that  all  the 
advantages  to  be  gained  from  using  excluders  would  pay 
for  the  time  and  trouble  of  using  them.  I  need  not  con- 
sider so  very  much  the  cost  of  them,  for  I  have  a  lot  on 
hand  lying  idle.  At  one  time  I  thought  I  had  a  plan  for 
prevention  of  swarming  by  the  use  of  excluders,  and  was 
so  sanguine  about  it  that  I  got  150  of  them.  I  think  a 
great  deal  of  queen-excluders,  and  wouldn't  like  to  do 
without  them,  but  I  did  not  need  150  of  them,  for  my  ex- 
cluder-swarm-prevention plan  did  not  turn  out  to  be  a 
howling  success. 

EXPERIMENTING    ON    TOO    LARGE    SCALE. 

Allow  me  to  digress  long  enough  to  confess  that  one 
of  my  weaknesses  is  being  a  little  too  sanguine  about  new 
plans  while  they  are  yet  in  the  raw,  and  so  experimenting 
on  too  large  a  scale.  More  than  one  crop  of  honey  has 
been  lessened  by  means  of  some  foolish  project  that  I 
thought  might  increase  the  crop.  But  I  haven't  done  as 
badly  as  I  might  have  done,  for  my  good  wife  has  acted 
somewhat  as  a  balance-wheel,  advising  me  to  "go  slow^" 
and  not  experiment  on  too  large  a  scale,  and  she  has  al- 


140 


FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 


ways  been  abetted  by  her  sister,  who  is  perhaps  over-con- 
servative. I  could  have  tested  my  plan  with  15  excluders 
just  as  well  as  with  ten  times  that  number,  but  I  knew 
the  plan  would  work,  and  I  couldn't  wait !  I  think  I 
didn't  consult  my  wife  about  ordering  the  150  excluders. 
As  I  grow  older  I  may  learn  caution,  and  experiment  on 
a  smaller  scale,  but  too  much  should  not  be  expected 
of  me. 


F^S-  43 — Crock-and-plate  Feeder. 


PLEASURE   OF   EXPERIMENTING. 

As  an  offset  to  the  mischief  done  by  experimenting 
on  too  large  a  scale,  I  may  say  that  one  of  my  keenest  en- 
joyments is  the  working  out  of  problems  connected  with 
l3ee-keeping.  There  is  never  a  time,  summer  or  winter, 
when  I  am  not  cooking  one  or  more  schemes,  plans  or 
projects  connected  with  the  business.  No  doubt  more 
money  could  be  made  at  bee-keeping  if  everything  in  the 
business  were  fully  settled  and  we  knew  beforehand  just 
exactly  the  right  step  to  take  in  any  given  c:ise,  but  there 
wouldn't  be  nearly  the  fun  in  it. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  141 

BROOD  AND  POLLEN  IN  SECTIONS. 

It  may  be  asked  why  it  is  that  I  have  so  Uttle  trouble 
with  queens  laying  in  sections,  while  some  others  are 
much  troubled  in  that  way.  Possibly  the  thickness  of  top- 
bars  may  have  something  to  do  with  it,  but  very  likely 
it  may  be  that  the  amount  of  foundation  in  sections  has 
a  bearing  on  the  case.  Some  use  small  starters  in  sec- 
tions, while  my  sections  are  filled  as  full  as  possble  with 
foundation.  When  drone-comb  is  absent  from  the  brood- 
nest,  there  seems  such  a  desperate  desire  for  drone-brood 
that  I  have  known  the  queen  to  leave  the  brood-nest  and 
fill  with  eggs  a  patch  of  drone-comb  two  or  three  frames 
distant  from  the  brood-nest.  On  the  same  principle  she 
would  go  up  into  the  sections  if  drone-comb  were  there, 
and  nearly  always  when  I  find  brood  in  the  sections  it  is 
drone-brood.  With  small  starters  in  sections  there  is 
plenty  of  chance  for  building  drone-comb,  but  when  the 
sections  are  full  of  worker  foundation  there  is  no  chance 
for  it,  hence  no  special  temptation  for  the  queen  to  go 
above  unless  very  much  crowded  for  room. 

Of  course,  when  brood  enters  the  sections,  pollen 
is  likely  to  follow.  Perhaps  a  more  common  cause  of 
pollen  in  sections  is  the  shallowness  of  brood-frames. 
Against  this,  an  excluder  is  powerless  to  help.  I  had  a 
little  experience  with  frames  shallower  than  the  -ang- 
stroth,  and  had  more  pollen  over  one  hive  with  the  shal- 
lower frames  than  over  fifty  of  the  others. 

PREPARING  SUPERS  OF  SECTIONS. 

This  work  is  done  in  the  winter,  or  at  least  so  early 
in  spring  that  it  will  not  interfere  with  other  work,  but  as 
an  understanding  of  it  may  help  just  a  little  toward  under- 
standing some  of  the  summer  work,  I  will  talk  about  it 
here. 

CLEANING  SUPERS   AND  T  TINS. 

The  propolis  is  scraped  from  the  supers  by  means  of 
the  hatchet  alreadv  mentioned.     Cleaning  T  tins  is  an- 


142  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

other  matter.  The  plan  used  is  the  invention  of  my  as- 
sistant, and  I  think  I  can  not  do  better  than  to  let  her  tell 
about  it  by  copying  the  following  article  which  she  wrote 
for  Gleanings  in  Bee-Culture: 

"When  we  commenced  work  in  the  shop,  the  first 
super  I  filled  with  the  nice  clean  sections,  I  looked  at  the 
T  tins  all  covered  with  propolis  and  thought  to  myself, 
^If  we  are  to  have  sections  unstained  by  propolis  it  will 


Fig.  44 — W at ering-C ro ck . 

never  do  to  put  them  on  these  dirty  T  tins.  But,  oh  dear ! 
it  will  be  an  endless  task  to  scrape  them  all.  I  can  never 
do  it.'  Just  then  a  happy  thought  struck  me.  Why  not 
boil  the  propolis  ofif?     Sure  enough,  why  not? 

"T  repaired  to  the  kitchen,  placed  the  wash-boiler  on 
the  stove  (one  we  use  for  such  work),  filled  it  with  water 
and  T  tins,  then  went  back  to  the  shop  to  work,  and  left 
them  to  boil  at  their  own  sweet  will,  delighted  to  think  I 
had  such  an  inspiration.  In  about  an  hour  I  went  back 
to  the  kitchen  to  see  how  my  T  tins  were  progressing.  I 
fully  expected  to  see  them  all  nice  and  clean,  and  was 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  143 

most  bitterly  disappointed  to  find  that  they  looked  even 
worse  than  they  did  when  I  put  them  in,  as  the  propolis 
was  more  evenly  distributed  all  over  them. 

"T  next  tried  scrubbing  them  with  a  broom  in  the 
boiling  water,  but  it  would  not  work.  I  meditated  awhile, 
then  concluded  I  would  try  concentrated  lye,  provided 
Dr.  Miller  did  not  object.  I  did  not  know  what  effect  the 
lye  would  have  on  the  tins.  He  said  I  might  try  it.  I 
put  the  boiler  back  on  the  stove  to  try  once  more.  I  did 
not  feel  quite  so  sanguine  as  I  poured  in  part  of  a  can  of 
concentrated  lye. 

"T  did  not  leave  it  this  time,  but  anxiously  watched 
to  see  what  effect  it  would  have.  It  brought  it  off  pretty 
well,  but  was  not  quite  strong  enough.  I  put  in  the  rest 
of  the  can  of  lye,  and.  Eureka !  the  propolis  disappeared 
as  if  by  magic.  I  stirred  the  tins  with  the  poker  to  insure 
the  lye  reaching  all  parts  of  them ;  then  with  the  tongs  I 
lifted  them  into  a  tub  and  rinsed  them  off  with  cold  wa- 
ter and  set  them  up  in  the  sun  to  drain,  as  bright  and 
clean  as  when  they  came  from  the  tinner's. 

"T  filled  up  the  boiler  with  T  tins  again,  and  so  on, 
until  the  strength  of  the  lye  was  all  used  up,  when  I 
turned  it  out,  filled  up  the  boiler  afresh,  and  began  all 
over  again,  continuing  until  they  were  all  done.  I  used 
a  can  of  lye  to  a  boiler  of  water. 

''Every  time  I  fill  up  a  super  with  the  nice  clean  T 
tins  I  feel  more  than  paid  for  the  work  it  took  to  make 
them  so.  I  am  pretty  sure  that  washing-fluid  would  clean 
them  almost  if  not  quite  as  well  as  the  concentrated  lye, 
providing  it  were  used  strong  enough,  although  I  have 
never  tried  it.  However,  I  think  I  should  prefer  the  lye, 
as  it  does  the  work  most  thoroughly  and  does  not  hurt 
the  T  tins  in  the  least,  that  I  can  see. 

"If  you  have  a  lot  of  dirty  T  tins  I  advise  you  to 
clean  them  in  this  way,  and  see  if  you  are  not  as  delighted 
as  I  was  to  see  them  come  out  so  bright  and  clean.  Be 
sure  to  use  plenty  of  water  in  rinsing  them  off." 


1-i-i  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

WETTING   SECTIONS. 

The  well-known  Hubbard  section-press  is  used  for 
putting  the  sections  together.  If  the  sections  are  fresh 
from  the  manufacturer  and  as  good  as  they  ought  to  be, 
they  can  be  put  together  at  once  without  any  preparation. 
If  they  have  been  held  over  from  the  previous  year  they 
may  be  so  dry  that  too  many  of  them  will  break  in  fold- 
ing. The  joints  of  these  are  wet  in  a  somewhat  wholesale 
manner.  If  they  are  crated  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  favor- 
able for  it,  the  whole  crate  of  500  are  wet  before  being 
taken  from  the  original  package,  one  side  of  the  crate 
being  removed  so  as  to  expose  the  edges  of  the  sections. 
If  the  crate  is  not  of  the  right  kind  for  this,  then  the  sec- 
tions are  taken  from  the  crate  and  put  in  the  proper  posi- 
tion in  an  empty  crate  lying  on  one  side  with  the  top  and 
one  end  removed.  Of  course  the  sections  do  not  lie  flat, 
but  on  their  edges,  the  grooves  of  each  tier  corresponding 
with  the  grooves  of  the  other  tiers,  so  that  a  small  stream 
of  water  poured  into  the  grooves  at  the  top  will  readily 
find  its  way  clear  through  to  the  bottom.  If  necessary 
the  sections  must  be  wedged  together,  so  there  will  be  no 
room  for  water  to  get  between  them  only  at  the  grooves. 

A  pint  funnel  is  specially  prepared  for  the  work.  A 
wooden  plug  is  pushed  in  from  above,  projecting  below 
two  inches  or  less.  The  lower  end  of  the  plug  is  whit- 
tled to  a  point,  and  either  by  means  of  a  bad  fit  or  by 
means  of  a  little  channel  cut  in  one  side  of  the  plug,  there 
is  just  leak  enough  so  that  when  the  funnel  is  filled  there 
will  be  a  continuous  fine  stream  of  water  running  from 
the  point  of  the  plug.  Holding  the  funnel  in  one  hand 
I  pour  into  it  boiling  water  from  a  tea-kettle  held  in  the 
other  hand,  at  the  same  time  holding  the  funnel  so  that 
the  stream  from  the  point  of  the  plug  shall  be  directed 
into  the  grooves,  moving  the  funnel  along  just  fast 
enough  so  that  the  water  shall  be*  sure  to  go  clear  through 
to  the  bottom.     Cold  water  will  not  work  well. 

A  plan  I  like  better  is  to  have  a  vessel  of  hot  water 
somewhat   elevated,   with   a   small   rubber   tube   running 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


145 


from  It,  so  that  the  stream  from  it  can  easily  be  directed 
mto  the  grooves.     A  fountain  syringe  works  nicely 

Before  wetting,  the  box  oi  sections  should  be  stood 
so  that  the  sections  are  on  end.  and  then  jolted  heavily 
so  as  to  make  the  grooves  correspond  the  whole  depth 
ot  the  box.  After  the  sections  are  wet  thev  swell  imme- 
diately, making  them  fit  too  tightlv  in  the  box  to  be  got- 
ten out  without  much  difficulty,  the  boards  are  torn  off 
one  end  of  the  box,  and  after  the  sections  are  taken  out 
the  boards  are  nailed  on  again,  if  it  be  desired  to  preserve 
the  box. 

FOLDIXG  SECTIOXS. 

Sometimes  I  put  sections  together  mvself,  but  gen- 
erally some  boy  or  girl  does  the  work  unless  my  wife  be 
pressed   into  service.     The   operator   seated   at  the  ma- 
chine (Fig.  57)  has  a  pile  of  sections  laid  at  a  convenient 
height  at  her  left  hand,  the  sections  piled  so  that  ends 
correspond.     As  fast  as  the  sections  are  taken  from  the 
press  they  are  neatly  piled  in  order  on  a  board  at  the  right 
of  the  operator.     (I  know  that  some  throw  the  sections 
indiscriminately  into  a  basket  as  thev  leave  the  press,  and 
It  seems  this  ought  to  take  less  tim'e,  but  I  think  in  the 
long  run  my  way  saves  time.)      It  is  desirable  that  the 
board  upon  which  the  sections  are  piled  should  be  light 
as  no  great  strength  is  required,  and  sometimes  several 
thousand    folded    sections    will   be   piled   up   ahead,    and 
It  IS  pleasanter  to  handle  the  light  board.     A  dummy  or 
almost    any    board    will    answer,    but    oftener    wood-zinc 
queen-excluders  are  used.     One  of  these  is  of  such  size 
that  there  may  be  placed  upon  it  side  by  side  three  rows 
of  sections  with  ten  sections  in  each  row'    Upon  these  are 
placed  three  other  rows,  break-joint  fashion,  with  nine 
sections  m  each  row,  and  this  piling  up  mav  continue  till 
the  upper  rows  contain  four  or  less  each.    'Generally  the 
piling  goes  no  higher  than  to  have  six  sections   in  the 
upper  rows,  making  120  sections  a  board-full.     As  fast 
PS  one  board  is  filled  another  takes  its  place,  and  the  filled 
board  is  piled  up,  unless  Miss  Wilson  is  putting  in  foun- 


146 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


dation  at  the  time  and  is  ready  for  a  fresh  boardful  of 
sections. 

SIZE  OF  STARTERS  IX  SECTIONS. 

Foundation  for  sections  comes  from  the  factory  in 
sheets  large  enough  to  fill  several  sections.  At  different 
times  the  sheets  have  been  of  different  sizes,  but  for  some 
time  past  they  have  measured  3J^  x  15^.     This  size  is 


No.  45 — Field  of  Raspberries  in  BIooi 


just  right  to  make  four  top-starters354  inches  deep,  and 
four  bottom  starters  ^  inch  deep.  Occasionally  a  bot- 
tom-starter of  this  depth  makes  trouble  by  lopping  over, 
but  not  often,  and  a  shallower  starter  is  more  likely  to  be 
gnawed  down  by  the  bees.  Moreover,  I  think  the  deeper 
the  bottom-starter  the  more  promptly  the  two  starters 
are  fastened  together. 

With  two  starters  of  this  size  in  a  4J4  section,  there 
should  be  a  space  of  %  inch  between  the  two  if  it  were 
not  that  the  space  is  made  larger  by  the  melting  away  of 
the  edges  of  the  starters  when  thev  are  put  in  the  section 
(Fig.  60). 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  147 

CUTTING    FOUNDATION. 

I  have  one  time  and  another  used  different  plans  for 
cutting.  A  simple  way,  and  one  that  is  quite  satisfactory, 
is  the  following:  Take  a  board  18  x  12  inches  or  larger; 
on  one  end  nail  a  block  as  a  stop  for  the  ends  of  the 
sheets  of  foundation  to  rest  against,  and  on  one  side  nail 
four  blocks  about  2}i  inches  long  as  stops  for  the  one 
edge  of  the  foundation  to  rest  against.  It  is  well  also  to 
nail  one  of  these  S^^-inch  blocks  on  the  other  side  near 
the  stop  at  the  end,  so  as  to  make  a  space  oi  7ys  inches  in 
which  the  ends  of  the  foundation  shall  be  confined,  other- 
wise the  foundation  has  a  disagreeable  habit  of  sluing  off 
to  one  side  when  the  first  cut  is  made  at  the  other  end. 
Of  course  these  stops  are  to  be  nailed  on  the  upper 
surface  of  the  board  and  not  on  the  edges.  The  two 
blocks  that  are  nailed  nearest  the  end-stop  are  to  be  tight 
against  it,  the  others  at  such  intervals  as  to  allow  for 
cutting  the  314  starters.  The  size  of  these  blocks  is  not 
important  ^-i  square  being  a  good  size.  With  a  rule  of 
any  convenient  length  ^x^,  this  rule  being  used  to 
guide  the  knife  in  cutting,  the  machine  would  now  be 
ready  for  the  foundation  if  one  had  an  eye  accurate  enough 
to  put  the  rule  in  the  right  place.  In  order  to  do  this 
quickly  and  accurately,  nails  against  which  to  place  the 
rule  at  the  right  places  are  partly  driven  in  on  both  sides  ; 
2^-inch  wire  finishing-nails  are  good  for  this  purpose. 
The  board  is  to  lie  before  you,  having  the  side  with  the 
four  stop-blocks  nearest  you.  Drive  a  nail  into  each 
side  of  the  board  so  that  there  shall  be  a  space  of  just 
3^  inches  between  the  end-stop  and  the  nail.  I  don't 
mean  you  shall  mark  a  point  3^4  inches  from  the  end-stop 
and  drive  your  nail  there,  for  that  would  make  S%  inches 
from  the  end-stop  to  the  middle  of  the  nail,  whereas  it 
should  be  3>4  from  the  stop  to  the  nearest  side  of  the 
nail.  The  distances  of  the  other  nails  from  the  end-stops 
will  be  as  follows:  6>^,  9^,  13,  13^,  14^4,  UJ/g.  Now 
your  cutting-board  is  all  ready  for  work. 


148  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

Two  knives  are  needed,  one  to  be  heating  while  the 
other  is  cutting.  For  heating  I  use  a  common  kerosene 
lani])  put  in  a  box  deep  enough  so  that  when  a  board  is 
laid  over  the  top  of  it  and  a  knife  is  laid  on  that  board 
the  end  of  the  knife-blade  shall  be  directly  over  the  lamp, 
nearly  or  quite  touching  the  top  of  the  chimney.  I  don't 
know  what  kind  of  a  knife  is  best.   A  Barlow  knife  makes 


-1              ' 

'■ 

i 

'«(♦'' 

! 

\              i 

» 

/ 

.igAMrMm 

r 

1 


Fig.  46 — Siveet   Clover. 


good  work,  but  I  think  I  like  better  a  common  tea-knife 
with  a  thin  steel  blade  broken  ofif,  so  it  is  2^  or  3  inches 
long,  and  somewhat  square  at  the  point. 

Preparatory  to  cutting,  the  foundation  must  be  care- 
fully and  evenly  placed  on  the  board.  Take  seven  sheets 
and  even  them  up  true  and  nice,  and  lay  the  pile  with 
one  end  tight  against  the  end-stop  and  one  side  against 
the  side-stops.     Xow  lay  a  similar  pile  close  beside  it. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  U9 

Beginning  at  the  right-hand  end,  place  your  rnle  against 
the  left-hand  side  of  the  nails,  and  with  a  quick  stroke 
make  a  cut  with  the  knife  held  flat  against  the  rule.  If 
you  don't  look  out  you'll  hold  the  rule  so  that  you'll  cut  a 
piece  oft"  the  tip  of  the  thumb  or  finger  of  the  left  hand, 
l3ut  you'll  not  be  likely  to  do  it  many  times.  If  you  are 
not  careful  to  hold  the  knife  flat  against  the  rule  you  will 
be  likely  to  cut  into  it.  To  avoid  this  I  have  tried  cover- 
ing the  rule  with  tin,  but  do  not  like  it  so  well.  The 
rapidity  of  the  stroke  is  important.  If  your  knife  is  hot 
enough  you  can  cut  clear  down  through  at  one  stroke, 
but  that's  bad.  The  edges  of  the  foundation  will  be 
melted  tofrether,  and  you  will  have  trouble  getting  them 
apart.  Turn  down  your  lamp,  and  get  it  so  three  or  four 
strokes  will  be  needed. 

L?tterly  I  have  given  up  heating  the  knife,  and  like 
it  better.  The  small  blade  of  a  pocket  knife  is  used,  and 
it  is  kept  very  sharp,  especially  at  the  point.  Several 
rapid  strokes  do  the  business.  The  rapidity  of  the  strokes 
is  important,  but  some  practice  is  needed,  for  with  the 
verv  quick  stroke  there  is  some  danger  that  the  knife 
will  cut  into  the  stick. 

Although  this  plan  takes  n:ore  strokes,  it  still  saves 
time  for  there  is  no  heating  or  changing  of  knives.  It 
also  saves  the  time  of  pulling  the  pieces  apart,  for  with 
the  hot  knife  there  will  always  be  at  least  a  little  melting 
together  at  the  edges.  Of  course  the  cutting  must  not 
be  done  when  the  foundation  is  too  cold,  or  it  will  be 
more  or  less  broken. 

Cutting  fo'-'ndation  in  a  miter-box  with  a  corrugated 
bread-knife  was  highly  commended.  I  tried  it,  and  was 
quite  pleased  to  think  it  made  faster  work,  although 
hardly  such  exact  work.  Then  I  tin:ed  it  by  the  watch, 
and  was  surprised  to  find  that  it  took  more  time  than  the 
old  way. 

When  the  boardful  is  cut  I  take  a  super  with  a  bot- 
tom in  it,  gather  up  and  put  into  it  56  bottom-starters, 
also  the  ofi  top-starters,  making  them  in  a  neat  pile. 


150  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

Instead  of  using  a  single  rule,  I  have  for  some  time 
preferred  to  have  a  rule  for  every  cut.  making  a  saving  of 
time.  Take  seven  rules  and  lay  them  on  the  board  on 
the  proper  places  for  cutting.  On  the  ends  of  the  rules, 
at  each  side,  lay  a  thin  strip  of  wood  15  inches  long  or 
longer — a  one-piece  section  without  the  grooves  does 
nicelv — with  one  end  of  each  strip  tight  up  against  the 
end-stop.  Xow  nail  together  in  this  position,  clinching 
the  nails.  You  will  use  this  with  the  other  side  up,  the 
rules  above,  the  side-strips  below  (Fig.  61).  Of  course 
the  guide-nails  are  not  needed  with  this  arrangement.  In 
the  picture  three  of  the  rules  appear  all  right,  but  the 
other  four,  which  are  very  close  together,  look  as  if  they 
were  all  one. 

The  cutting-board  rests  on  a  little  work-table  (Fig. 
62),  which  is  quite  convenient  for  this  and  other  pur- 
poses. 

The  sections  being  folded  and  the  founndation  cut,  we 
are  now  ready  for  putting  starters  in  the  sections.  This 
is  the  work  of  Miss  Wilson  and  she  is  an  expert  at  it. 
After  tr\'ing  a  number  of  foundation-fasteners,  I  have 
found  nothing  with  which  I  can  do  better  work  than  with 
the  Daisy  fastener. 

DIVISION  OF  LABOR. 

I  may  remark  in  passing  that  when  I  speak  of  doing 
things  it  does  not  always  mean  that  I  do  such  things  per- 
sonally, for  it  may  be  that  some  one  else  does  the  work 
entirely.  But  when  any  new  implement  is  to  be  used  or 
new  plan  tried,  I  first  carefully  study  it  up  and  tr\'  to 
learn  just  how  it  ought  to  be  used,  and  then  I  instruct 
the  one  who  is  to  make  a  specialty  of  that  part  of  the 
work,  and  in  a  short  time  the  specialist  far  exceeds  the 
instructor.  Miss  Wilson  can  put  in,  I  think,  five  starters 
to  my  one ;  my  son  Charlie,  when  a  little  chap,  could  dis- 
tance me  in  putting  together  sections  :  and  I  think  Philo 
can  beat  me  at  taking  sections    out  of  supers. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  151 

PUTTING    STARTERS    IN    SECTIONS. 

The  Daisy  foundation-fastener  is  so  well-known  that 
I  need  say  nothing  about  the  use  of  the  machine  itself. 
As  the  operator  sits  at  the  machine  with  a  small  pile  of 
starters  in  the  lap,  a  boardful  of  sections  is  at  the  left 
hand  at  a  convenient  height,  the  side  of  the  board  toward 
the  operator  (Fig.  ST).  The  bottom-starter  is  put  in 
first,  then  the  top-starter.  When  the  section  has  its  two 
starters,  it  is  put  directly  into  the  super.  With  a  starter 
as  deep  as  3j4  inches  it  would  hardly  do  to  throw  the  sec- 
tion in  a  basket.  Formerly  the  sections  when  filled  were 
placed  in  order  on  a  board  the  same  as  the  board  from 
which  they  were  taken,  and  it  was  a  separate  job  after- 
ward to  fill  them  in  the  super. 

PUTTING     SECTIONS     IN     SUPERS. 

By  means  of  an  implement  of  my  own  devising, 
which  for  want  of  a  better  name  may  be  called  a  "super- 
filler"  (Fig.  63),  the  separate  job  of  filling  sections  in 
supers  is  now.  entirely  dispensed  with,  and  the  sections 
go  directly  from  the  Daisy  fastener  into  the  super,  taking 
no  more  time  to  be  put  into  the  super  than  it  w^ould  take 
to  put  them  on  a  board.  Indeed,  I  think  it  takes  a  lit- 
tle less  time,  for  there  is  not  the  same  need  of  care  in 
placing  the  sections  so  other  sections  will  not  be  knocked 
ofT  the  board,  but  the  sections  are  shoved  into  place  in 
the  super  in  a  sort  of  automatic  way.  Then,  too,  it  is  a 
comfort  to  get  them  directly  into  the  super,  for  while  on 
a  board,  even  for  a  short  time,  there  is  always  danger 
of  some  mishap  by  which  a  boardful  may  tumble  over 
and  come  to  grief. 

SUPER-FILLER. 

ril  tell  you  how  to  make  a  super-filler.  Take  a  board 
as  large  as  the  outside  dimensions  of  your  super  or 
larger.  (The  one  in  the  picture  is  a  board  hive-cover.) 
Xail  a  cleat  on  one  end  of  the  board,  and  another  cleat  on 


152 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


one  side  as  in  the  picture.  These  cleats  may  be  Yihy  % 
inch,  but  the  dimensions  are  not  important.  Now  put  a 
super  on  the  board,  shoving  one  corner  snug  up  in  the 
corner  made  by  the  cleats.  With  a  lead-pencil,  mark  on 
the  board,  on  the  inside  of  the  super,  where  the  sides  of 


Fig.  47 — Alfalfa. 


the  super  come.  Put  eight  sections  in  the  super,  four  on 
each  side,  with  three  T  tins  in  their  proper  places. 
With  a  pencil  rule  across  the  board  each  side  of  each  T 
tin,  so  as  to  show  where  the  T  tins  come.  Now  take  ofif 
the  super  and  its  contents,  and  get  six  strips,  each  11^ 
inches  long  and  }i  inch  square.  Nail  these  on  as  shown 
in  the  picture,  so  as  to  keep  at  equal  distances  from  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES  153 

pencil-mark  of  the  super  at  each  side,  and  about  a  fourth 
of  an  inch  distant  from  the  marks  made  for  the  T  tins. 
The  super-filler  is  now  complete. 

It  stands  at  a  convenient  height  at  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  one  who  operates  the  Daisy  fastener,  with 
the  side-cler.t  at  the  farther  side  (Fig.  87).  A  super  is 
placed  on  it  with  one  corner  of  the  super  tight  against 
the  angle  made  by  the  cleats  ;  but  no  T  tin  is  yet  put  in  the 
super.  As  the  sections  come  from  the  fastener  they  are 
placed  in  the  super  at  the  end  toward  the  back  of  the 
operator.  When  the  first  row  of  six  is  completed,  the  T 
tin  is  slipped  under  these  sections  into  its  proper  place. 
In  like  manner  a  second  row  of  sections  and  a  T  tin ;  then 
a  third  row  and  a  T  tin,  and  lastly  the  fourth  row.  Then 
without  rising,  the  operator  lifts  this  filled  super  to  one 
side  and  gets  an  empty  one. 

PUTTIXG    IX    SEPARATORS. 

Generally  these  filled  supers  are  not  separatored  till 
the  day's  work  of  fastening  foundation  is  done.  Then  a 
small  table  is  used  at  which  the  operator  sits.  This  table 
is  made  of  three  hive  bottom-boards,  or  boards  21x14. 
Stand  two  of  the  boards  on  end  ;  nail  the  other  board  on 
top  ;  nail  light  boards  on  one  side  for  a  back,  or  brace 
with  two  pieces  of  lath  diagonally ;  and  there's  your  table 
(Fig.  62).  Being  convenient  for  other  purposes,  sev- 
eral of  these  little  tables  are  on  hand.  The  table  is  placed 
near  a  pile  of  supers  to  be  separatored,  and  the  separators 
are  filled  in. 

TOP    SEPARATORS. 

As  the  sections  now  stand,  there  is  som.e  space  be- 
tween them  endwise,  allowirg  them  to  be  out  of 
square,  and  making  a  convenient  place  for  the  bees  to 
deposit  a  disagreeable  quantity  of  propolis.  To  remedy 
this,  there  is  crowded  in  ?t  the  top  between  each  two 
rows  of  sections  a  little  stick  11^  by  ^4  by  scant  yg. 
Then  the  follower  is  wedged  in,  and  when  all  are  done 


154 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


the   supers   are   carried   into   the   south    room   or   store- 
room, and  piled  up  to  await  the  harvest  time. 


BAIT-SECTIONS. 


Bait-sections  are  put  in  enough  supers  so  that  the 
first  super  put  on  each  hive  shall  be  baited.     Generally 


Fig.  48 — Colossal  Ladino  Clover. 

only  one  bait-section  is  in  a  super,  the  bait  being  in  the 
center,  and  these  baited  supers  are  piled  in  the  store-room 
where  it  will  be  convenient  to  reach  them  first. 


SATISFACTION    IN    HAVING    SUPERS    READY. 

There  is  a  feeling  of  real  satisfaction  in  seeing  the 
larger  part  of  the  store-room  filled  with  piles  of  supers 
ready  to  go  on  the     hives.     How     m.-my     times     I  have 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  155 

counted  them  and  admired  the  nice  even  piles  reaching  to 
the  ceiHng!  Perhaps  I  should  not  appreciate  them  so 
much  if  I  had  not,  years  ago,  felt  the  annoyance  of  run- 
ning out  of  sections  or  foundation  right  in  the  middle  of 
the  honey  season,  waiting  days  for  it,  and  the  honey 
wasting. 

Having  spent  thus  much  time  telling  what  was  done 
the  previous  winter,  let  us  get  back  to  warmer  weather. 

GIVING    ADDITIONAL    SUPERS.' 

Understanding  now  that  each  colony  has  had  a  super 
given  to  it  about  ten  days  after  the  very  first  w^hite  clover 
blossom  has  been  seen,  the  further  history  of  this  super 
and  its  possible  successors  is  a  matter  that  varies  so  much 
in  different  seasons  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  it  straight. 
By  the  way,  you  may  think  that  I'm  always  thrilled  with 
the  sight  of  the  first  clover  blossom.  T'm  not.  Scarcely 
ever  a  thrill.  The  colonies  are  never  all  of  them  as 
strong  as  I  would  like  for  the  beginning  of  the  harvest, 
and  that  first  clover  blossom  is  merely  a  warning  that 
the  time  for  building  up  for  the  harvest  is  becoming  very 
short. 

UNCERTAINTY  OF  SEASONS. 

As  to  giving  additional  super-room,  it  is  a  thing  that 
may  or  rot  be.  That  first  clover  bloom  may  have  so 
few  successors  that  there  will  be  no  harvest ;  or  bloom 
may  be  abundant  with  no  nectar.  So  sometimes  it 
happens  that  after  it  becomes  a  clear  case  that  the  harvest 
is  a  failure,  the  supers  are  taken  off  as  innocent  of  honey 
as  when  they  were  put  on.  Oftener  it  happens  that  the 
bait-section  in  each  super  is  filled  and  sealed  and  not  a 
cell  drawn  out  in  the  other  sections.  From  that  up,  the 
seasons  will  vary  so  that  the  average  number  of  sections 
to  eich  colony  will  be  10,  24,  48,  and  up  to  150  or  more, 
although  these  latter  seasons  do  not  come  with  any 
alarming  degree  of  frequency. 


]56  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

If  one  covUl  know  in  advance  just  what  the  season 
was  going  to  be,  one  could  tell  a  good  deal  better  what  to 
do  in  the  way  of  giving  additional  super-room.  One  may 
give  so  much  room  that  there  will  be  an  undue  propor- 
tion of  unfirished  sections  at  the  final  taking  off,  or  one 
may  leave  the  bees  so  crowded  for  room  as  to  lose  part 
of  the  crop.  I  am  not  likely  to  make  the  latter  mistake, 
which  I  consider  a  good  deal  worse  than  to  have  too  many 
unfinished  sections. 

GUESSING    ABOUT    MORE    SUPER-ROOM. 

On  the  whole,  there  is  a  mixture  of  judgment  and 
guess-work  as  to  putting  on  any  super  after  the  first. 
Perhaps  the  nearest  to  a  general  rule  in  the  matter  is  to 
give  a  second  super  when  the  first  is  half  filled.  If,  how- 
ever, honey  seems  to  be  coming  in  slowly,  or  if  the  colony 
is  not  strong,  and  the  bees  seem  to  have  plenty  of  room 
in  the  super,  no  second  super  is  given,  although  the  one 
already  there  may  be  nearly  filled  with  honey.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  honey  seems  to  be  coming  with  a  rush,  and 
the  bees  seem  crowded  for  room,  a  second  super  may  be 
given,  although  there  is  very  little  honey  in  the  first. 
These  same  conditions  continued,  a  third  super  may  be 
given  when  the  second  is  only  fairly  started  and  the  first 
not  half  full,  and  before  the  first  super  is  ready  to  take 
ofif  there  may  be  four  or  five  supers  on  the  hive. 

RISKING    IN    GOOD    SEASON. 

In  the  year  1897 — a  remarkably  prosperous  year- 
there  were  on  the  hives  in  the  Wilson  apiary  an  average 
of  four  supers  to  each  colony,  some  colonies  with  less 
than  four  and  some  with  more,  before  a  single  super  was 
filled.  As  I  would  lie  at  night  thinking  it  over,  I  would 
say  to  myself,  "What  if  there  should  come  one  of  those 
sudden  stops  to  the  flow  that  sometimes  occur,  and  you 
should  be  caught  with  those  tons' of  honey  with  scarcely 
any   sections   finished   in   the    lot?     Wouldn't   you   wish 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


157 


you  had  gone  a  little  slower,  and  had  the  bees  finish  up- 
what  they  had,   rather  than  coax  them  to  spread  over 
more   territory?"     And   then   the   cold   chills   would   run 
up    and   doW'U    my    back.     But   the    sudden    stop    didn't 
come,   and   the   crop    was   finished    in   good   style.     The 


Fig.   4Q — Linden   or  Basszvood   Blossoms. 


supers  were  all  well  filled  with  bees,  and  although  I 
took  some  chances  as  to  unfinished  work,  I  feel  pretty 
sure  that  if  I  had  allowed  less  room  it  would  have  been  at 
a  loss.     But  that  was  a  very  exceptional  case. 

Usually,  in  a  fair  season,  when  the  harvest  is  in  full 
blast  and  fairly  along,  there  will  be  3.  4  or  more  supers 
upon  each  hive,  at  one  tin.e.     Th?.t   does  not  mean,  by 


158  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

anv  means,  that  all  of  them  will  be  finished,  for  very 
likely  the  last  super  given  will  have  very  little  honey  in 
it  when  the  harvest  is  over.  But  it  will  not  do  to  let  the 
bees  be  crowded  for  room,  and  if  all  the  sections  on  the 
hive  are  about  full,  if  the  harvest  has  not  entirely  closed 
an  empty  super  must  be  given,  in  case  they  might  need  it. 

SUPERS    FOR   OUT-APIARIES. 

If  there  is  guessing  abort  the  number  of  supers  to 
put  on  in  the  home  apiary,  there  is  still  more  guessing  as 
to  the  number  to  be  taken  when  starting  to  an  out-apiary. 
If  I  take  a  smaller  number  than  needed,  I  may  have  to 
take  a  spcial  trip  for  more.  If  I  take  more  than  are 
needed,  I  will  hardly  want  to  take  them  back  home  with 
me.  and  they  are  put  in  piles  and  covered  up  in  the  hope 
that  thev  may  be  used  the  next  time.  But  there  is  some 
danger  of  their  being  affected  by  rain  when  piled  up  at 
the  out-apiary,  so  there  is  trouble  either  way.  On  the 
whole  it  is  better  to  take  too  many  than  too  few,  and  so 
there  are  generally  some  extra  ones  at  the  out-apiaries. 

To  take  supers  to  the  out-apiaries,  they  are  piled  up 
on  the  wagon  in  five  piles,  a  lath  is  nailed  from  top  to 
bottom  on  each  pile,  and  they  are  braced  on  top  with  lath 
(Fig.  64.)  Fifty  empty  supers  can  be  taken  at  a  load, 
but  it  is  not  often  that  as  many  as  forty  filled  supers  are 
taken  at  a  load. 

V  ADDING  SUPERS  UNDER  OR  OVER,     y/' 

""r^  J  /^g  ^j-jg  harvest  advances  I  am  more  chary  about  giv- 

ing room,  and  it  is  only  given  when  the  sections  already 
on  are  pretty  well  filled.  Suppose  toward  the  last  of  the 
season  I  come  to  a  colony  that  has  its  sections  nearly  all 
filled.  There  is  a  possibility  that  the  bees  may  be  able  to 
finish  up  what  they  have  and  a  few  more  in  an  additional 
super,  but  the  great  probability,  is  that  they  will  do  no 
more  than  to  finish  what  they  have.  Although  that  prob- 
abilitv  mav  amount  to  almost  a  certaintv,  I  do  not  act 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


159 


upon  it,  but  go  for  the  possibility  and  give  the  extra  super. 
But  I  put  it  on  top  of  the  others,  so  that  the  bees  will  not 
commence  work  in  it  unless  actually  crowded  into  it. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  harvest,  so  long  as  there 
is  a  reasonable  expectation  that  each  additional  super  will 
be  needed,  the  empty  super  is  put  under  the  others,  next 
to  the  brood-chamber.  Work  will  commence  in  it  more 
promptly  than  when  an  empty  super  is  placed  on  top,  and 


Fig.  30 — Rozif  of  Lindens  in  Bloom. 


that  greater  promptness  in  occupying  the  new  super  may 
be  the  straw  to  turn  the  scale  on  the  side  of  keeping  down 
the  desire  for  swarming.  But  when  a  super  is  put  on 
toward  the  close  of  the  season,  not  because  it  seems  really 
needed,  but  as  a  sort  of  safety-valve  in  case  it  might  be 
needed,  I  do  not  wish  to  do  anything  to  coax  the  bees 
into  it,  so  it  is  put  on  top,  and  the  bees  can  do  as  they 
please  about  entering  it.  It  is  true  that  if  an  empty 
super  is  put  under  the  others  at  a  time  when  the  harvest 
is  nearing  its  close,  the  bees  may  not  do  a  thing  in  it,  but 
merely  go  up  and  down  through  it  and  keep  to  work  in 


160  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

the  super  above.    But  it  is  not  so  well  to  have  them  work- 
ing so  far  from  the  brood-nest  with  empty  space  beneath. 
No  bait-section  is  needed  in  any  super  after  the  first. 

EMPTY  SUPERS  OX  TOP.    ^ 

Latterlv  I  have  fallen  into  the  practice  of  giving  an 
empty  super  on  top,  even  when  an  empty  super  is  put 
under.  This  for  more  than  one  reason.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  the  upper  starter  of  foundation  is  not  secure- 
ly fastened  the  entire  length.  If  fastened  half  way 
across  the  top-bar  of  the  section,  it  will  look  all  right, 
but  if  put  under  other  supers,  next  to  the  brood- 
chamber,  a  heavy  weight  of  bees  coming  upon  it  suddenly 
will  drag  down  the  foundation  at  one  side.  If  put  on 
top,  the  bees  will  enter  the  super  only  gradually,  and  the 
foundation  will  be  fastened  in  place  before  any  great 
weight  of  bees  comes  upon  it.  This  empty  super  on 
top  gives  a  less  crowded  feeling,  and  may  help  a  little 
toward  preventing  swarming.  No  matter  how  full  or 
empty  the  lower  super  may  be,  this  top  super  serves  as  a 
sort  of  safety-valve,  in  case  any  need  for  more  room 
should  arise.  The  next  time  there  is  need  to  give  a 
super  below%  this  top  super  is  moved  down  and  another 
empty  super  put  in  its  place,  ^^l^en  the  top  super  is 
put  down,  I  think  the  bees  start  work  on  it  just  a  bit 
sooner  than  if  it  had  not  been  above. 

^  SWARMIXG    NOT    DESIRABLE.   ^ 

If  I  were  to  meet  a  man  perfect  in  the  entire  science 
and  art  of  bee-keeping,  and  were  allowed  from  him  an 
answer  to  just  one  question,  I  would  ask  for  the  best  and 
easiest  way  to  prevent  swarming,  for  one  who  is  anxious 
to  secure  the  largest  crop  of  comb  honey.  There  are 
localities  where  a  large  crop  of  honey  is  secured  in  the 
fall,  and  in  such  place,  or  in  any  place  where  the  honey- 
flow  is  long  enough,  a  larger  crop  may  be  secured  by  in- 
crease, but  I  am  not  i  so  sure  about  that.     If  a  man  in 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  161 

such  a  place  starts  in  the  spring  with  75  colonies,  he  may 
get  a  larger  crop  by  increasing  early  enough  to  150, 
supposing  150  colonies  to  be  the  largest  number  his 
field  will  bear ;  but  would  he  not  have  a  still  larger  crop 
if  he  had  150  all  through  the  season  and  made  no  in- 
crease? However  that  may  be,  in  my  locaHty,  which 
bee-keepers  generally  would  consider  a  poor  one,  where 
white  clover  is  the  chief  if  not  the  only  source  from 
which  a  crop  may  be  expected,  and  where  the  harvest  is 
all  too  short,  if,  indeed,  it  comes  at  all — in  such  a  place 
I  am  satisfied  that  more  honey  can  be  harvested 
by  commencing  in  the  spring  with  the  largest  number 
the  field  will  bear  and  holding  at  that  number,  always 
provided  that  the  means  taken  to  keep  down  increase 
shall  in  no  wise  interfere  with  the  best  work  on  the  part 
of  the  bees. 

If  I  were  working  for  extracted  honey,  I  suppose  the 
matter  might  be  managed,  to  a  great  extent,  if  not  to  the 
fullest  extent,  by  simply  giving  abundance  of  room  in 
every  direction  ;  but  with  comb  honey,  I  do  not  believe 
that  an  abundance  of  room  in  the  brood-nest  is  compatible 
with  the  largest  yield  of  surplus. 

Or,  if  I  were  working  for  extracted  honey,  I  might 
at  the  beginning  of  the  harvest  put  all  the  brood  over 
an  excluder  in  an  upper  story,  leaving  the  queen  on 
empty  frames  below,  but  that  would  hardly  work  for 
comb-honey  production. 


MANAGEMENT    OF    SWARMING    COLONIES. 


s/ 


From  my  first  using  movable  frames,  I  think  I  have 
kept  my  queens'  wings  clipped,  so  my  experience  in  hav- 
ing natural  swarms  with  flying  queens  has  been  very 
limited.  But  my  experience  in  having  swarms  issue 
where  and  when  I  did  not  want  them,  has  been  very  large. 
Only  extreme  modesty  and  humility  prevents  my  being 
very  proud  of  so  large  an  experience.  If  I  should  ever 
reach  that  point  where  I  shall  be  equally     successful  in 


162  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

preventing  swarms.  I  make     no     promise     to  be  either 
modest  or  humble. 

So  long  as  success  in  prevention  of  swarms  has  not 
been  reached,  it  remains  an  important  matter  to  know  the 
best  thing  to  do  when  swarms  do  issue.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  some  one  must  be  on  hand  to  watch  for 
swarms.  For  several  years  I  have  had  no  watching  for 
swarms,  and  have  had  no  swarms  except  those  which 
swarmed  in  spite  of  my  efforts  to  prevent  them.  Y'et  if  I 
had  only  the  one  apiary,  it  is  just  possible  that  I  might 
allowing  swarming,  at  least  so  far  as  to  allow  the  bees  to 
swarm  and  then  return  to  their  old  hives.  At  any  rate 
there  are  a  great  many  so  situated  as  to  allow  their  bees  to 
go  thus  far  in  swarming,  and  I  feel  pretty  sure  that  for 
them  there  may  be  some  interest  in  knowing  what  I  did 
when  swarms  did  issue,  so  I  will  give  an  account  of  my 
management  when  I  formerly  allowed  the  bees  to  swarm. 

WATCHING    FOR    SWARMS.  V^ 

AMth  as  many  as  100  colonies  in  an  apiary,  the  one 
who  is  on  watch  can  hardly  be  allowed  to  do  anything 
else.  The  regular  noise  is  so  great  among  so  many  that 
the  added  noise  of  a  swarm  is  hardly  noticed ;  so  sight, 
not  hearing  must  be  depended  on.  I  have  gone  on  with 
my  regular  work  and  taken  a  look  once  in  five  or  ten  min- 
utes along  the  rows  to  see  if  any  swarms  were  out.  but 
it  is  not  a  very  satisfactory  way  of  doing.  A  bright  boy 
or  girl  can  watch  very  well,  if  faithful.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary, of  course  to  watch  all  day  ;  and  the  weather  has 
much  to  do  with  the  hours  at  which  swarms  may  be  ex- 
pected. On  a  hot  morning  a  swarm  may  issue  as  early  as 
6  o'clock  :  but  this  is  exceptional,  and  if  the  weather  has 
been  cloudy  through  the  day,  clearing  off  bright  and 
warm  in  the  after  part,  a  swarm  may  issue  after  4  o'clock. 
Ordinarily,  howxver,  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  on  the  look- 
out before  8  a.  m.,  or  much  after  2  p.  m.  I  had  a  swarm 
issue  once  in  a  shower,  but,  that  is  so  unlikely  to  occur 
that  I  would  not  think  it  worth  while  to  keep  any  watch 
at  such  a  time. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  163 

The  watcher  will  soon  learn  the  points  of  advantage 
from  which  he  can  easily  command  a  view  of  the  whole 
apiary,  not  needing  to  stir  from  his  seat  unless  a  swarm 
issues.  Sometimes,  however,  there  is  so  much  playing 
going  on  among  the  bees,  that  there  is  no  alternative  but 
to  travel  about  and  take  a  close  look  at  each  colonv  that 


Fig.    ji — Catnip. 

shows  unusual  excitement.  It  is  an  advantage  at  this 
time  to  have  the  hives  in  long  rows.  I  have  30  or  -iO 
hives  in  a  row.  At  the  middle  is  a  shady  place  to  sit. 
A  clock  or  watch  lies  in  open  sight  so  that  a  look  at  every 
hive  may  be  taken  once  in  five  minutes.  If  there  is  no 
time-piece  to  go  by,  the  watcher  may  become  interested 


164  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

in  something  else,  and  think  the  five  minutes  not  up  when 
double  that  time  has  passed  ;  but  having  the  time  meas- 
ured out,  he  is  free  to  read  or  do  anything  else  between 
times.  At  each  five  minutes,  the  w^atcher,  who  is  sitting 
at  the  middle  of  the  middle  row,  rises,  glances  along  the 
back  row  to  the  north  end  ;  then,  along  the  middle  row  to 
the  north  end ;  then,  stepping  forward,  glances  along  the 
front  row  to  the  north  end ;  then  along  the  same  row  to 
the  south  end ;  then  to  the  south  end  of  the  middle  row  ; 
and  lastly  to  the  south  end  of  the  back  row.  All  this  has 
taken  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  it,  and  the  watcher 
is  ready  to  sit  down  till  another  five  minutes  is  up. 

If,  however,  unusual  commotion  is  seen — and,  sight- 
ing along  the  rows  in  this  way,  it  can  easily  be  seen — the 
watcher  goes  to  the  hive  for  a  closer  look.  Up  to  the 
middle  of  the  day  or  later,  there  is  not  often  much  ex- 
citement, unless  there  be  a  swarm  ;  but  after  this  time  so 
many  colonies  take  their  play-spells  that  the  watcher 
needs  to  spend  most  of  his  time  on  his  feet. 

ONE-CENT    CAGES. 

The  watcher  is  provided  with  a  number  of  queen- 
cages.  These  are  easily  made  and  the  material  costs  less 
than  a  cent  apiece.  I  take  a  pine  block,  5xlx^-inch,  and 
wrap  around  it  a  piece  of  wire-cloth  4  inches  square.  The 
wire-cloth  is  allowed  to  project  at  one  end  of  the  block  a 
half  inch.  The  four  sides  of  this  projecting  end  are  bent 
down  upon  the  end  of  the  stick  and  hammered  down  tight 
into  place.  A  piece  of  fine  wire  about  10  inches  long  is 
wrapped  around  the  wire-cloth,  about  an  inch  from  the 
open  end,  which  will  be  about  the  middle  of  the  stick,  and 
the  ends  of  the  wire  twisted  together.  I  then  pull  out  the 
block,  trim  ofif  the  corners  of  the  end  a  little  so  that  it  will 
easily  enter  the  cage,  slide  the  stick  in  and  out  of  the  cage 
a  number  of  times  so  that  it  will  work  easily,  and  the 
thing  is  complete  (Fig.  65).  When  not  in  use,  the  block 
is  pushed  clear  in,  so  as  to  preserve  the  shape  of  the  cage. 
Such  cages  can  be  carried  in  the  pocket  without  danger 
of  being  injured. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


165 


FINDING  OUEEN  OF  SWARM. 


When  the  watcher  finds  a  swarm  issuing,  he  is  pretty 
dull  if  he  does  not  become  interested  in  looking  for  the 
queen.  I  do  not  know  of  any  sure  way  to  find  the  queen, 
but  she  is  not  often  missed.     I  think  I  can  find  her  most 


Fig.  j2 — J'^ase  of  Goldenrod. 


easily  by  watching  on  the  ground  in  front  of  the  entrance. 
\>ry  frequently  she  comes  out  at  the  back  end  of  the  hive 
or  at  the  side,  when  the  hive  is  raised  on  blocks.  Rarely 
she  may  be  found  at  some  distance  from  the  hive,  on  the 
ground,  with  a  group  of  bees  about  her.  If  not  found, 
she  is  most  likely  in  the  hive,  and  the  swarm  may  re-issue 
in  a  day  or  two.     She  may  be  lost,  but  at  this  particular 


166  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

time  her  loss  is  not  so  very  great.  There  is  no  danger 
of  the  swarm  being  lost ;  it  will  return  to  the  hive  in  a  few 
minutes,  although  I  have  known  them  to  cluster  for  half 
an  hour  or  more  before  returning.  It  may  happen,  some- 
times, that  a  swarm  may  go  into  a  hive  whose  colony  has 
swarmed  a  little  while  before,  and  where  it  is  always 
peacefully  received.  I  do  not  like  this  doubling  up,  but  I 
do  not  know  that  I  lose  anything  by  it,  for  the  bees  can 
store  up  just  as  much  in  one  hive  as  another. 

When  the  watcher  finds  the  queen,  she  is  caged. 
Either  the  cage  is  held  down  for  her  to  run  into,  or  she  is 
caught  and  then  caged.  After  the  queen  is  in  the  cage, 
the  block  is  pushed  in  an  inch  or  so,  and  the  cage  put 
where  the  bees  can  take  care  of  it.  Usually  it  is  thrust 
into  the  entrance,  close  up  against  the  bottom-bars,  so  that 
if  a  cool  night  should  come  there  will  be  no  danger  that 
the  bees  will  desert  it. 

The  watcher  keeps  a  little  memorandum  book,  and 
puts  down  in  it  the  number  of  the  colony  that  swarmed ; 
for  it  might  make  bad  work  if  it  should  be  forgotten  and 
neglected  until  the  emergence  of  a  young  queen  to  lead 
out  an  absconding  swarm. 

doolittle's  plan. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  G.  M.  Doolittle  gave  a  plan  for 
management  of  swarming  colonies  when  no  increase  was 
desired.  I  do  not  think  that  he  uses  it  now.  I  do  not 
know  that  I  shall  ever  use  it  again,  and  yet  it  was  valuable 
to  me,  and  for  some  circumstances  nothing  may  be  better. 
The  plan,  in  brief,  was  this:  The  queen  being  caged 
and  left  in  the  hive,  all  queen-cells  are  cut  out  in  five  days 
from  the  time  the  swarm  issued,  and  five  days  later  all 
queen-cells  are  again  cut  out  and  the  queen  set  at  liberty. 

I  used  this  one  season  with  great  satisfaction,  and  I 
do  not  remember  that  any  colony  thus  treated  swarmed 
again. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  167 

VARYING  DOOLITTLe's  PLAN. 

The  next  season  I  varied  the  plan.  Instead  of  leav- 
ing the  queen  with  the  colony  to  remain  idle  for  ten  days, 
I  took  her  away  and  gave  her  to  a  nucleus,  a  new  colony, 
or  wherever  a  queen  was  needed.  At  the  end  of  the  ten 
days  I  returned  her  to  the  colony,  placing  her  directly 
upon  a  comb  taken  from  the  middle  of  the  brood-nest. 
Often,  however,  I  gave  them  a  different  queen,  for  after 
an  absence  of  ten  days.  I  doubt  if  they  could  tell  their  own 
queen  from  any  other.  Besides,  they  were  in  a  condition 
to  take  any  queen  without  grumbling. 

After  the  first  year,  however,  I  had  some  colonies 
swarm  again  after  the  queen  was  given  them.  Whether 
it  was  the  season,  the  change  in  the  plan,  or  some  other 
cause.  I  am  unable  to  say. 

PUT-UP    PLAN. 

I  then  adopted  a  plan  which  relieved  me  of  the  neces- 
sity of  hunting  for  and  cutting  out  queen-cells.  No  mat- 
ter how  careful  I  might  be,  there  was  always  a  possibility 
that  I  might  overlook  a  queen-cell,  although  this  very 
rarely  happened,  if  ever.  But  it  took  a  good  deal  of  valu- 
able time.  I  give  herewith  the  plan,  which  I  think  an 
improvement : 

When  a  swarm  issues  and  returns,  it  is  ready  for 
treatment  immediately ;  although  usually  it  is  put  down 
in  my  memorandum  of  work  to  be  done,  and  the  time  set 
for  it  may  be  the  next  day  or  any  time  within  five  days, 
just  as  suits  my  convenience.  The  queen  is  caged  at  the 
time  of  swarming,  and  left  in  the  care  of  the  bees,  as  al- 
ready mentioned. 

W^ithin  the  five  days,  I  take  off  the  super,  and  put 
most  of  the  brood-combs  into  an  empty  hive.  Indeed,  I 
may  take  all  the  brood-combs,  for  I  want  in  this  hive  all 
the  combs  the  colony  should  have.  In  the  hive  left  on  the 
stand.  I  leave  or  put  from  one  to  three  frames,  generally 
two.     These  combs  must  be  sure  to  have  no  queen-cells. 


1G8  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

and  may  be  most  safely  taken  from  a  young  or  weak 
colony  having  no  inclination  to  swarm.  The  two  combs 
are  put  in  one  side  of  the  hive,  two  or  three  dummies 
place  beside  them,  and  the  rest  of  the  hive  left  vacant. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  "Will  not  the  bees  build 
comb  in  this  vacant  part  of  the  hive?"  No ;  at  least  they 
do  not  for  me.  Queenless  colonies  are  little  given  to 
comb-building,  and  not  at  all  inclined  to  make  a  fresh 
start  in  a  new  place. 

If  I  did  not  do  so  at  the  time  of  taking  out  the 
frames,  I  now  shake  the  bees  off  from  about  half  the 
frames,  not  being  particular  to  shake  them  off  clean. 
These  bees  are  of  course  shaken  off  into  the  hive  on  the 
stand.  The  supers  are  now  put  on  this  hive  with  its  two 
or  three  frames  of  brood,  the  cover  is  put  over  the  supers, 
and  the  "put-up"  hive  filled  with  brood  is  placed  over  all. 

.GETTING   THE    BEES    TO    DESTROY    THE    OUEEX-CELLS. 

A  plenty  of  bees  will  be  left  to  care  for  the  brood,  the 
tjueen  will  commence  laying,  all  thought  of  swarming  is 
given  up,  and  every  queen-cell  torn  down  by  the  bees.  In 
perhaps  two  days  I  take  a  peep  to  see  if  the  queen  is  lay- 
ing, for  it  sometimes  happens  that  at  the  time  when  I 
"put  up  the  queen"  (as  I  call  the  operation  I  have  just 
described),  there  is  already  a  young  queen  just  hatched, 
and  then  the  old  queen  is  pretty  sure  to  be  destroyed.  In 
this  latter  case  I  may  remove  the  young  queen  and  give 
them  a  laying  one,  or  I  may  let  the  young  queen  remain. 

PUTTING  DOWN    THE   QUEEN. 

In  ten  days  from  the  time  the  swarm  issued — some- 
times ten  days  from  the  time  I  "put  up  the  queen" — I  put 
down  the  queen.  If  by  chance,  a  young  queen  is  in  the 
upper  hive,  I  do  not  like  to  put  her  down  until  she  com- 
mences laying  and  her  wing  is  clipped,  for  fear  of  her  tak- 
ing out  a  swarm.  It  seems  a  foolish  operation  for  them 
to  swarm  when  there  is  nothing  in  the  hive  from  which 
a  queen  can  be  reared,  but  I  have  had  it  happen.     The 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


169 


Operation  of  putting  down  is  very  simple.  I  lift  the  hive 
off  the  top,  place  it  on  the  ground,  remove  the  supers, 
take  the  hive  off  the  stand,  place  it  on  one  side,  put  the 
hive  containing  the  queen  on  the  stand,  and  replace  the 
supers. 


f'ig-  53 — Tzt'o  Asters. 


You  will  see  that  this  leaves  the  queen  full  chance  to 
lay  from  the  minute  she  is  uncaged,  and  at  the  time  of 
putting  down  there  will  be  as  much  brood  as  if  the  queen 
had  remained  in  her  usual  place.  Most  of  the  bees,  of 
course,  adhered  to  the  lower  hive  when  the  queen  was 
put  up,  but  by  the  time  she  is  put  down  quite  a  force  has 
hatched  out,  and  these  have  marked  the  upper  hive  as 


170  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

their  location.  Upon  this  being  taken  away,  the  bees,  as 
they  return  from  the  field,  will  settle  upon  the  cover, 
where  their  hive  was,  and  form  a  cluster  there  ;  finally  an 
explorer  will  crawl  down  to  the  entrance  of  the  hive  be- 
low, and  a  line  of  march  in  that  direction  will  be  estab- 
lished immediately.  In  a  day  or  two  they  will  go  straight 
to  the  proper  entrance. 

GOOD   CHANCE   FOR   NUCLEI. 

We  left,  standing  on  the  ground,  the  hive  with  its 
two  combs,  which  had  been  taken  from  the  stand.  These 
two  combs,  when  the  queen  was  put  up,  probably  had  a 
good  quantity  of  eggs,  and  brood  in  all  stages.  They 
now  contain  none  but  sealed  brood,  some  queen-cells  and 
a  pretty  heavy  supply  of  pollen.  Or,  it  may  be  that  eggs 
from  a  choice  queen  were  given,  and  the  queen-cells  are 
to  be  saved.  A  goodly  number  of  bees  adhere  to  the  two 
combs  and  I  know  of  no  nicer  way  to  start  a  new  colony, 
than  simply  to  place  the  hive  in  a  new  location.  Or,  the 
bees  may  be  shaken  ofif  at  the  old  stand  and  the  combs 
given  to  a  nucleus  which  needs  them. 

I  may  remark  in  passing,  that  these  queenless  colo- 
nies will  produce  queen-cells  not  excelled  by  those  of  a 
swarming  colony,  and  not  surpassed  in  excellence  by  those 
produced  by  any  of  the  best  plans  used  by  queen-breeders. 
In  short,  I  do  not  belive  it  is  possible  to  have  better.  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  all  of  them  are  not  of 
equal  excellence.  For  the  bees  will  continue  to  start  cells 
for  several  days,  and  the  last  ones  started  will  be  from 
larvae  too  old  to  make  good  queens.  You  may  be  able  to 
distinguish  these  cells  by  their  poorer  look,  or,  if  you  give 
the  bees  several  cells,  among  them  at  least  one  or  two  of 
the  finest  looking,  they  will  make  no  mistake  in  making 
the  proper  selection. 

WORKING   OF   QUEENLESS   BEES. 

It  may  be  objected  that  this  keeping  bees  queenless 
for  ten  davs  makes  them  work  with  less  vigor.     I  am  not 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


171 


sure  but  it  ought,  but  I  must  confess  I  have  had  no  strong 
proof  of  it  come  directly  under  my  own  observation.  So 
far  as  I  could  tell,  these  bees  seemed  to  work  just  as 
hard  when  their  queen  was  taken  away  as  before.  In  the 
spring  of  1885  one  colony  was,  by  some  means,  left  en- 
tirely away  from  the  proper  rows — some  three  rods  from 
any  other  colony.    I  took  it  away,  put  it  in  proper  line,  and 


'j§^H 


."^•■^-'^' 


P^S-  54 — Three  Asters. 

left  to  catch  the  returning  stragglers  a  hive  containing  one 
comb,  this  comb  having  no  brood  and  very  little  if  any 
honey.  This  colony  having  been  a  very  weak  one,  very 
few  bees  returned  to  the  old  spot,  but  these  few  surprised 
me  by  filling  a  good  stock  of  honey  in  empty  comb,  before 
they  were  put  with  the  rest  of  the  colony. 

Swarms    treated    on    this  "puting  up"   plan    often 
swarmed  again,  but  if  they  did  they  were  put  up  again. 


172  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

An  objection  to  the  plan  was  that  these  "put-ups"  were 
in  the  way  and  had  to  be  Hfted  down  when  anything  was 
done  with  supers.  Still,  for  anyone  who  allows  the  bees 
to  swarm,  and  who  does  not  object  to  the  lifting,  the 
plan  is  a  good  one. 

GIVING   NUCLEUS   TO   SWARM. 

A  plan  that  has  seemed  to  be  as  satisfactory  as  any 
other,  although  it  is  not  always  convenient  to  use  it,  is 
rpon  the  issuing  of  a  swarm  to  pick  up  the  queen  so  as 
to  have  her  out  of  the  way,  remove  the  old  hive  from  th'^ 
stand  and  place  on  the  stand  a  nucleus  in  a  regular  hive. 
The  supers  are  put  upon  this  hive,  and  the  swarm  is  left 
to  return  at  its  leisure.  This  takes  little  time  and  trouble, 
and  there  is  no  danger  of  further  swarming.  I  have  seen 
it  stated  that  when  the  swarm  returns  the  queen  of  the 
nucleus  may  be  killed,  but  that  does  not  occur  "in  this 
locality." 

PREVENTION   OF   SWARMING. 

I  don't  quite  like  that  heading.  It  may  be  under- 
stood to  mean  that  I  am  entirely  successful  in  profitably 
preventing  swarming,  and  I  am  not  certain  that  I  have  yet 
attained  to  that.  I  say  profitably  preventing  it,  for  there 
might  be  such  a  thing  as  preventing  it  in  a  way  that  would 
hardly  pay.  If  a  colony  disposed  to  swarm  should  be 
blown  up  with  dynamite^  it  would  probably  not  swarm 
again,  but  its  usefulness  as  a  honey-gathering  institution 
would  be  somewhat  impaired.  Swarming  might  also  be 
prevented  by  means  of  such  character  as  to  involve  an 
amount  of  trouble  that  would  make  it  unprofitable  ;  or  it 
might  be  prevented  in  such  a  way  as  to  have  a  very  un- 
profitable effect  upon  the  honey-crop.  The  thing  I  am 
after  is  profitable  prevention. 

NO    DELIGHT    IN    SWARMS. 

I  have  read  of  the  great  delight  felt  by  the  bee-keeper 
at  the  sight  of  an  issuing  swarm,  the  bees  whirling  and 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  173 

swirling  in  delirious  joy,  but  such  things  do  not  appeal  to 
me.  I  do  not  like  swarming.  I  never  did.  I  don't  think 
I  ever  shall.  In  my  many  years  of  bee-keeping  experience, 
I  think  I  never  looked  upon  the  issuing  of  a  swarm  with 
feelings  other  than  those  akin  to  pain,  unless  it  might  be 
the  first  swarm  I  ever  had. 

BAD     MAXXERS     OF     SWARMS. 

I  am  not  an  expert  at  hiving  swarms.  They  don't 
act  nicely  for  me.  After  I  have  climbed  a  tree  with 
laborious  pains  and  shaken  down  a  swarm  with  a  hive 
under  it  at  just  the  right  place,  the  swarm  instead  of 
entering  in  a  well-mannered  sort  of  style  will  just  as  like 
as  not  keep  flying  back  every  time  it  is  shaken  down,  un- 
less it  should  take  it  into  its  head  to  give  me  more  exercise 
by  taking  another  tree.  I  got  a  ]\Ianum  swarm-catcher, 
but  I  do  not  remember  that  I  ever  used  it  with  success. 
One  day  when  I  was  trying  to  use  it,  J.  T.  Calvert,  the 
energetic  business  man  of  the  A.  I.  Root  Co.,  was  here. 
He  helped  me.  He  made  a  catcher  of  his  hands  and  put 
the  bees  in  the  catcher  by  main  strength.  But  they 
wouldn't  stay  "catched,"  and  they  didn't.  So  I  don't  like 
swarming,  even  if  I  didn't  think  it  interfered  with  the 
honey  crop. 


Upon  no  other  subject  connected  with  bee-keeping 
have  I  studied  so  much,  tried  so  many  plans,  or  made  so 
many  failures,  as  with  regard  to  prevention  of  swarming. 
If  I  knew  all  about  just  what  makes  a  colony  swarm,  I 
would  be  in  better  shape  to  use  preventive  measures ;  but 
I  don't  know  all  about  it.  Of  course  I  know  that  want 
of  room  and  want  of  ventilation  may  hasten  swarming, 
and  possibly  some  other  things  of  that  kind  :  but  after  all 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  mystery  about  the  whole  afifair. 

VEXTILATIOX    AXD    ROOM. 

I  think  it  is  of  some  use  to  take  pains  to  see  that  the 
bees  are  never  really  cramped  for  room.     I  believe  that 


174 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


raising  the  hive  on  blocks  ^  of  an  inch  or  more  is  a 
good  thing.  It  is  also  a  good  thing  to  rear  queens  from 
stock  that  has  shown  little  inclination  to  swarming.  In- 
deed,   with    room    enough    and   ventilation    enough    it    is 


Fis. 


-Heartsease. 


possible  that  bees  would  never  swarm.  Some  one  will 
say  to  me  that  bees  may  swarm  with  a  hogshead  of  room. 
Yes,  but  the  combs  may  be  in  such  condition  that  the 
queen  will  be  cramped  for  room,  even  in  a  hogshead. 


NON-SW- ARMING    PILES. 


For  a  good  many  years  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
having  in  each  apiary  one  or  more  colonies  whose  hives 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  175 

were  kept  as  a  sort  of  store-house  where  extra  frames  of 
brood  or  honey  could  be  put,  to  be  drawn  from  as  occa- 
sion required,  but  often  there  has  been  no  drawing,  and 
these  "piles"  have  grown  to  be  four  or  five  stories  high 
with  an  immense  force  of  bees.  I  never  knew  one  of 
them  to  swarm.  But  the  ventilation  was  as  immense  as 
the  force  of  bees,  for  each  story  had  an  entrance  of  good 
size,  and  perhaps  the  super-abundance  of  ventilation  was 
the  secret  of  their  not  swarming. 

YOUNG  QUEENS  AND  SWARMING. 

,  It  was  said  that  colonies  with  queens  of  the  current 
year's  rearing  would  not  swarm,  and  one  year  I  supplied 
all  the  colonies  of  one  apiary  with  young  queens  about 
the  beginning  of  the  honey  harvest.     It  didn't  work. 

Once  when  a  colony  swarmed  and  returned  to  its 
hive,  I  removed  its  queen  and  gave  it  a  queen  that  I  think 
had  not  been  laying  more  than  two  or  three  days.  Within 
three  days  that  queen  came  out  with  the  swarm.  It  seems 
the  condition  of  the  colony  has  more  to  do  with  the  case 
than  the  condition  of  the  queen.  C.  J.  H.  Gravenhorst, 
late  editor  of  Deutche  Illiistrierte  Bienenzcitung,  gives 
what  I  think  is  the  truth  about  young  queens  and  swarm- 
ing :  A  given  colony  will  not  swarm  with  a  queen  of 
this  year  if  the  queen  was  reared  in  this  colony ;  if  reared 
elsewhere  it  may  swarm.  Why  that  difference  he  did  not 
know.     But  some  have  claimed  exceptions  to  this  rule. 

TAKING    TWO    FRAMES    OF    EROOD    WEEKLY. 

One  season  I  kept  eight  brood-combs  in  the  hive,  and 
every  week  or  ten  days  took  out  two  of  the  central  combs, 
replacing  them  with  foundation  or  empty  combs. 
This  was  to  give  the  queen  so  much  room  that  there 
should  be  no  desire  to  swarm.  It  was  successful  in  most 
cases,  but  there  were  too  manv  exceptions  to  make  the 
plan  reliable. 


176  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

TAKING  AWAY   ALL   BROOD. 

Afterward  I  carried  the  same  thing  to  its  extreme 
Hmit  in  a  good  many  cases,  taking  away  all  the  brood. 
One  frame  of  brood,  however,  was  left  for  two  or 
three  days,  perhaps  a  week,  for  fear  the  bees  would  be 
discouraged  and  desert  an  entirely  empty  hive.  This  one 
frame  of  brood  was  then  taken  away  because  it  was  the 
common  thing  for  the  bees  to  start  queen-cells  on  it.  Yet 
it  is  just  possible  that  no  swarmins^  would  have  taken 
place,  in  spite  of  the  queen-cells. 

FORCED    SWARMING. 

This  plan  has  come  into  great  prominence  lately  un- 
der the  name  of  forced,  shaken,  or  brushed  swarms. 
Gravenhorst,  the  great  German  authority,  practiced  and 
advocated  it  in  the  seventies  of  the  last  century.  L. 
Stachelhausen  was  earnest  in  his  advocacy  of  the  plan  in 
this  country,  and  E.  R.  Root,  editor  ©f  Gleanings  in  Bee- 
Culture,  took  it  up  with  great  enthusiasm.  Probably  a 
good  many  had  done  more  or  less  at  it  independently,  for 
it  would  naturally  suggest  itself  that  taking  away  all  the 
brood  would  leave  a  colony  in  much  the  same  condition 
as  if  they  had  swarmed  ;  and  in  actual  practice  most  of 
those  who  had  tried  the  plan  have  found  bees  no  more 
inclined  to  swarm  after  it  than  after  natural  swarming. 

FORCED  VERSUS  NATURAL  SWARMING. 

Many  have  found  the  plan  a  material  advance  over 
natural  swarming.  One  very  great  advantage  is  suf- 
ficient to  commend  it ;  the  bee-keeper  is  master  of  the 
situation,  and  is  not  dependent  upon  the  whims  of  the 
bees  as  to  when  they  shall  swarm — an  inestimable  boon  to 
those  who  have  out-apiaries,  and  indeed  to  any  one  who 
does  not  wish  the  trouble  of  watching  for  swarms. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  177 

STRONGER   FORCE   IX   FORCED   SWARMING. 

It  also  gives  the  bee-keeper  control  over  the  number 
of  bees  that  shall  remain  with  the  swarm.  In  natural 
swarming  there  may  be  too  few  bees  go  with  the  swarm 
for  best  results  in  storing,  while  there  may  still  be  not 
enough  for  any  hope  of  good  work  in  the  parent  colony, 
with  a  possibility  of  this  latter  force  being  still  further 


Pig-  56 — Queen-Excluder. 

divided  by  after-swarms.  In  the  case  of  a  forced  swarm, 
all  the  bees  may  be  allowel  to  remain  on  the  old  stand 
except  merely  enough  to  care  for  the  brood  which  is  taken 
away.  This  brood  may  then  be  put  on  a  new  stand,  and 
with  the  addition  of  a  queen  or  a  queen-cell  allowed  to 
start  out  on  its  career  as  an  independent  colony. 

SHAKING   OFF   ALL   BEES. 

Or,  the  forced  swarm  may  be  made  still  stronger,  by 
giving  it  all  the  bees,  and  distributing  the  brood  to  nuclei, 


178  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

weak  colonies,  or  wherever  it  will  do  most  good.  In  no 
case,  however,  would  it  be  a  prudent  thing  in  this  locality 
to  follow  the  recommendation  of  some,  by  putting  the 
brood  on  a  new  stand  without  any  bees,  trusting  to  the 
warmth  of  the  weather  to  hatch  out  young  bees  fast 
enough  to  care  for  the  brood.  If  such  a  colony — if  you 
can  call  it  a  colony — should  not  fall  a  prey  to  the  robbers, 
there  would  in  most  cases  be  a  serious  loss  of  brood  from 
starvation  and  chilling. 

NO   FORCED   SWARMING   TILL   QUEEN-CELLS   STARTED. 

In  no  case  did  I  practice  this  forced  swarming  till  I 
found  by  the  presence  of  queen-cells  that  the  bees  were 
thinking  of  swarming.  There  would  be  less  labor  in  the 
long  run  (supposing  that  all  wxre  to  be  swarmed  sooner 
or  later),  to  do  up  the  whole  business  at  a  suitable  time, 
without  waiting  for  the  bees  to  take  the  initiative.  In- 
deed, conditions  may  be  such  in  some  localities  that  there 
might  be  a  loss  to  wait  for  queen-cells. 

But  the  harvests  here  are  such  that  it  is  usually  better 
to  have  swarming  delayed.  Moreover,  a  good  many  of 
my  colonies,  if  let  alone,  will  go  through  the  entire  season 
without  attempting  to  swarm,  and  such  colonies  are  the 
very  ones  that  give  the  best  yields,  and  forced  swarming 
would  be  practiced  upon  them  only  at  a  loss. 

DISADVANTAGE   OF   FORCED   SWARMING. 

With  all  the  advantage  forced  swarming  has  over 
natural  swarming,  it  still  leaves  something  to  be  desired. 
As  already  said,  those  colonies  which  hold  their  force  in- 
tact throughout  the  entire  season  are  the  ones  that  give 
the  best  results.  It  is  true  that  in  forced  swarming  the 
entire  force  of  bees  may  be  left  on  the  old  stand,  but  there 
are  thousands  of  prospective  bees  in  the  brood  taken 
away.  If  you  take  away  that  brood  to-day,  you  are  tak- 
ing away  the  bees  of  to-morrow,  and  of  twenty  more  days 
to  come. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  179 

"But  the  bees  that  emerge  to-morrow  do  not  emerge 
as  field-bees,  and  will  not  be  field-bees  till  they  are  sixteen 
days  old.  If  the  harvest  closes  in  sixteen  days  the  ad- 
ditional force  will  only  be  a  lot  of  useless  consumers." 
While  the  first  part  of  your  statement  may  be  true 
enough,  I  cannot  say  as  much  for  the  second. 

BEES  DO  THE  WORK  MOST  NEEDED. 

\Vhile  the  bees  that  emerge  to-morrow  may  do  no 
field-work  for  sixteen  days,  they  begin  housework  at  a 
very  tender  age — housework  that  would  have  to  be  con- 
tinued by  older  bees  if  this  brood  were  taken  away.  As 
fast  as  one  of  these  young  bees  is  ready  to  begin  house- 
work, it  takes  the  place  of  an  older  bee,  which  can  now 
go  afield.  I  know  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  different 
departments  of  work  are  done  by  bees  of  certain  ages,  but 
I  also  know  that  bees  accommodate  themselves  to  cir- 
cumstances. I  have  seen  bees  at  five  days  old  carrying 
in  pollen  because  there  were  no  older  bees  in  the  hive  to 
preform  that  duty,  and  we  all  know  that  in  early  spring 
nursing  and  housework  are  done  bv  bees  several  months 
old. 

So  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  at  least  to  a  certain 
extent  the  necessities  of  the  case  rather  than  the  matter 
of  absolute  age  decides  what  duties  a  bee  shall  preform  ; 
and  the  logical  conclusion  from  that  is  that  the  larger 
force  of  bees  we  have  in  a  hive  the  more  storing  we  shall 
have  even  if  a  good  many  of  the  bees  be  quite  young. 

Without,  perhaps,  giving  any  satisfactory  reason  for 
it,  I  am  also  quite  of  the  opinion  that  better  work  is  gen- 
erally done  when  bees  are  allowed  to  go  right  along  rear- 
ing brood  at  their  own  sweet  will ;  for  toward  the  close 
of  the  harvest  they,  of  their  own  accord,  curtail  work  in 
that  direction. 

XOX-SWARMIXG    PREFERRED    TO    FORCED. 

AMiile  I  yield  to  no  one  in  my  appreciation  of  the 
advantages  of  forced  swarming  over  natural  swarming, 


180 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


I  believe  that  the  advantages  of  no  swarming  whatever 
over  forced  swarming  are  as  great  as  the  advantages  of 
forced  over  natural  swarming. 

So  you  will  hardly  blame  me  if  instead  of  resting  con- 
tent wath  forced  swarming  I  continue  to  pursue  that  will- 
o-the  wisp — in  the  opinion  of  many 


P^g-  57 — Folding  Sections. 


KEEPING   COLONIES   OUEENLESS. 

The  next  season  after  practicing  the  removal  of  two 
frames  of  brood,  I  settled  upon  a  plan  which  I  felt  pretty 
sure  would  prevent  the  possibility  of  swarming.  It  was  a 
no  less  radical  measure  than  to  keep  the  colony  queenless. 
I  reasoned  that  as  I  had  never  had  a  queen  hatched  inside 
of  eleven  days  from  the  time  the  queen  was  taken  away, 
or  from  the  time  the  bees  started  queen-cells,  the  colony 
was  safe  from  sw^arming  if  once  in  ten  days  I  took  aw^ay 
their  brood  and  gave  them  fresh  ;  also,  that  it  was  only 
bees  over  two  weeks  old  that  worked  in  the  field ;  add  to 
this  the  three  weeks  that  it  took  from  the  tgg  to  the  full- 
fledged  worker,  and  it  was  five  weeks  or  more  from  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IO^G  THE  BEES  ISl 

time  the  egg  was  laid  till  the  bee  became  a  gatherer. 
Clearly,  then,  only  such  bees  as  came  from  eggs  laid  five 
Aveeks  or  more  before  the  close  of  the  honey  harvest  were 
available  as  gatherers.  Why  not  have  the  colony  queen- 
less  during  this  five  weeks?  So  I  took  away  the  queen, 
leaving  in  the  hive  three  combs,  one  of  which  contained 
eggs  and  brood  in  all  stages,  the  other  two  containing 
lothing  from  which  queen-cells  could  be  started. 

Once  in  ten  days  the  comb  of  young  brood  with  its 
queen-cells  was  taken  away  and  a  fresh  one  given  them, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  five  weeks,  which  was  about  the 
close  of  the  harvest,  the  queen  was  returned. 

NOT   A  SUCCESS. 

As  a  preventive  of  swarming,  it  was  a  complete  suc- 
cess. Xot  one  colony  thus  treated  swarmed  ;  how  could 
they?  As  a  means  of  securing  a  large  crop,  I  think  it  was 
an  egregious  failure  ;  although  I  can  hardly  tell  with  great 
definiteness,,  the  season  itself  being  a  failure.  Possibly 
the  absence  of  the  queen  itself  had  something  to  do  with 
lessening  their  stores,  but  I  doubt  it.  But  when  all  combs 
of  brood  but  one  were  taken  away,  a  large  force  of  pros- 
pective bees  were  taken  away  that  would  have  hatched  out 
in  the  next  twenty-one  days. 

If  I  had  allowed  four  or  five  frames  of  brood,  chang- 
ing every  ten  days,  the  result  might  have  been  quite  dif- 
ferent. Moreover,  the  one  frame  they  did  have  was,  for 
the  most  part,  filled  with  brood  so  young,  that  little  or 
none  of  it  hatched  while  in  the  hive.  If  I  should  try  any- 
thing in  the  same  line  again,  I  should  keep  four  or  five 
frames  in  the  hive,  and  this  should  be  mainly  brood  well 
advanced  so  that  much  of  it  would  hatch  out  to  replenish 
the  wasting  numbers. 

KEEPING    QUEENS     CAGED. 

Success  was  reported  by  others  with  the  plan  of  keep- 
ing queens  caged  in  the  hive  during  part  or  the  whole  of 


182 


FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 


the  harvest,  and  although  I  tried  it  on  a  large  scale  there 
was  no  case  of  success  with  me. 


FASTENING     YOUNG     QUEENS     IN. 

The  good  old-fashioned  way  of  managing  after- 
swarms  was  to  return  them  as  fast  as  they  came  out. 
This  gave  the  young  queens  a  chance  to  fight  it  out  till 
only  one  was  left,  and  when  only  one  was  left  there  would 


Fig.  58 — Movable  Shade. 


be  no  more  swarming.  So  I  planned  to  let  the  young 
queens  fight  it  out  without  the  trouble  of  returning 
swarms.  I  put  a  queen-excluder  between  the  bottom- 
board  of  the  hive,  so  that  no  queen  could  get  out.  As  no 
queen  could  get  out  no  swarm  could  leave.  When  the 
young  queens  emerged  they  could  settle  their  little  differ- 
ences to  suit  themselves  till  only  one  queen  was  left.  I 
would  keep  track -of  what  was  going  on  inside  the  hives 
sufficiently  to  take  away  the  excluder  after  all  but  one 
queen  had  been  put  out  of  the  way,  so  the  young  queen 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  183 

conld  go  out  on  her  wedding-trip.  The  thing  was  so  cer- 
tain to  work  that  I  spent  $37.50  for  qneen-excluders  to 
put  the  plan  in  practice. 

SWARMING    GALORE. 

In  due  time  when  queen-cells  were  sealed  the  swarms 
began  to  issue.  Then  they  returned.  Then  they  came 
out  next  day.  Then  they  returned  again.  After  doing 
more  or  less  of  this,  the  time  came  when  the  young  queens 
began  to  emerge.  Business  became  lively.  Swarming 
once  a  day  did  not  always  satisfy  them.  The  number  of 
issues  in  a  day  became  such  that  several  swarms  would 
be  out  at  a  time,  and  they  were  not  at  all  particular  to 
keep  separate.  Neither  were  they  as  methodical  as 
prime  swarms  about  returning  to  their  own  hives.  Al- 
most any  hive  seemed  to  suit  them  providing  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  noise  at  the  entrance,  and  when  swarming 
got  well  under  way  for  the  day  there  were  plenty  of 
hives  with  noise  at  the  entrance.  Whether  the  excluders 
leaked  queens,  or  whatever  may  have  been  the  reason, 
there  were  some  cases  of  young  queens  being  out,  and 
when  there  was  a  young  queen  in  a  swarm  there  was  no 
telling  how  many  swarms  would  unite  with  it. 

ABNORMAL  BEHAVIOR. 

After  a  swarm  had  been  balked  in  its  efforts  a  num- 
ber of  times  there  seemed  to  be  a  reckless  disregard  in 
a  good  many  cases  as  to  the  propriety  of  returning  when 
they  had  had  plenty  of  time  to  discover  that  no  young 
queen  had  come  out  with  them,  and  sometimes  they 
would  settle  and  remain  clustered  for  half  a  day,  perhaps 
several  swarms  in  the  cluster.  Nothing  so  very  bad 
about  that,  if  I  had  only  been  entirely  sure  that  some 
time  they  would  return ;  but  when  I  stood  gazing  on  a 
brnch  of  bees  as  big  as  my  body  when  I'm  in  best  con- 
dition, and  meditated  upon  the  chance  of  there  being  a 


184 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^iONG  THE  BEES 


young  queen  in  the  bunch  to  incite  them  to  sail  off  into 
the  ethereal  blue — well,  it  was  not  the  sort  of  meditation 
most  conducive  to  composure  of  mind. 

Inside  of  the  hive  the  program  as  laid  down  was 
pretty  generally  carried  out;  at  the  proper  time  the  ex- 
cluder was  removed,  and  in  due  time  the  young  queen 
was  laying.  The  plan  is  a  good  one  if  one  could  only  in- 
duce the  bees  to  refrain  from  swarming  out  until  only 
one  young  queen  is  left  in  the  hive.  I  could  not  induce 
them  to  do  that. 


i-< 


¥^%--^[ 


"*%** 


P^g-   59 — Brood   of  Laying    Workers. 
REARING   QUEEN    IN    '"pUT-UP.'" 

It  is  not  necessary  to  tell  of  all  the  plans  that  were 
tried.  One  was  finally  hit  upon  that  proved  to 
be  quite  satisfactory,  so  far  as  tried.  When  the 
presence  of  well-advanced  queen-cells  showed  that 
a  colony  was.  bent  on  swarming,  all  but  one  or 
two  frames  of  brood  were  taken  from  the  hive  and  put 
in  another  hive  that  was  "put-up"  on  top,  of  course  hav- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  1S5 

ing  no  communication  with  the  bees  below.  In  the  old 
hive  below  the  old  queen  was  sometimes  left,  and  some- 
times the  bees  were  left  without  any  queen ;  but  in  either 
case  care  was  taken  that  no  queen-cell  was  left  below, 
and  ten  days  later  search  was  made  for  queen-cells  be- 
low, or  else  the  brood  was  exchanged  for  brood  from  a 
colony  where  there  was  no  danger  of  queen-cells,  and 
the  old  queen  was  removed.  To  the  "put-up"  was  given, 
at  the  time  of  putting  up,  a  virgin  queen  or  a  ripe  queen- 
cell,  and  as  soon  as  the  young  queen  was  laying  the  old 
hive  w^as  taken  away  and  the  "put-up''  hive  was  put 
down  in  its  place.  Thus  the  whole  force  of  the  colony 
was  kept  together,  there  was  a  young  queen  of  the  cur- 
rent year's  rearing,  practically  reared  in  the  hive,  and 
that  colony  was  past  the  anxiety  for  the  season.  Some, 
however,  say  that  such  a  queen  will  swarm  with  them. 

GETTING  BEES  TO  DESTROY  CELLS. 

I  said  the  brood  was  put  up,  but  said  nothing  about 
the  bees  or  the  queen-cells.  No  attention  was  paid  to 
the  queen-cells,  and  about  half  the  bees  were  shaken  off 
the  combs — perhaps  more  than  half.  Just  how  many 
bees  to  leave  in  the  "put-up"  hive  was  not  an  easy  matter 
to  gauge.  If  too  few  there  would  be  chilled  brood. 
If  too  many  the  young  queen  would  leave  with  a  swarm. 
Of  course  the  latter  danger  could  be  avoided  by  destroy- 
ing all  queen-cells  in  the  **put-up,"  but  that  would  make 
more  work,  and  if  there  are  few  enough  bees  all  super- 
fluous cells  will  be  destroyed  by  the  bees  themselves,  and 
there  will  be  no  danger  of  swarming. 

NUCLEUS  TO  PREVENT  SWARMING. 

A  modification  of  the  plan  somtimes  used  was  to 
take  a  nucleus  from  somewhere  else  and  put  in  the  place 
of  the  colony.  But  in  this  case  the  colony  was  made 
queenless  two  or  three  days  in  advance.  Either  plan 
left  the  colony  without  any  diminution  of  its  forces,  and 


186  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

with  no  very  great  check  to  its  work.  Before  speaking  of 
this,  however,  it  will  be  well  to  speak  of  the  preliminary 
work,  which  is  the  same  for  all  colonies,  whether  the  after 
treatment  be  on  the  ''put-up''  plan  or  some  other  plan. 
Then  I  struck  upon  a  plan  that  seemed  equally  effective 
but  quite  a  little  easier. 


it 


Fiy.  60. — Top  and  Bottom  Starters  in  Section. 
PRELIMINARY    WORK. 

As  soon  as  colonies  become  strong  and  are  work- 
ing busily,  we  begin  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  queen-cells. 
This  generally  wnll  not  be  till  the  bees  are  at  work  on 
clover  bloom,  although  it  may  happen  in  some  seasons 
that  preparation  for  swarming  begins  during  the  last  of 
fruit-bloom.  Of  late  years  dandelion  has  become  so  im- 
portant that  there  is  a  possibility  it  may  start  swarming. 
Whether  it  be  in  apple  or  clover  bloom,  we  begin  to  ex- 
amine some  of  the  strongest  colonies  to  see  if  any  prep- 
arations for  swarmmg  are  made.  If  we  fin'  none  in 
the  strongest  colonies  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  look 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  187 

through  the  rest.  When,  however,  we  find  one  or  more 
queen-cells  with  an  egg  in  each,  then  it  is  time  to  begin 
a  systematic  canvas  of  all  colonies,  and  to  keep  it  up  in 
all  so  long  as  we  continue  to  find  queen-cells  in  any,  ex- 
cept in  a  case  where  a  colony  has  already  been  treated  or 
has  treated  itself  in  such  way  that  it  need  not  be  expected 
to  swarm. 

COLONIES  THAT  DO  NOT  NEED  WATCHING. 

In  struggling  with  the  swarming  problem,  there  are  a 
few  things  that  may  be  relied  upon  with  some  degree  of 
certainty.  A  swarm  that  has  been  hived  in  an  empty 
hive  this  season  will  not  send  forth  a  swarm  this  year,  with 
rare  exceptions.  Equally  safe  from  swarming  is  a  colony 
whose  queen  has  been  removed  and  the  colony  allowed 
to  rear  a  new  queen,  provided  only  one  queen  is  allowed 
to  mature.  Also  a  colony  kept  queenless  about  10  days 
and  then  given  a  laying  queen  of  the  current  year's  rear- 
ing. Colonies  that  do  not  come  under  either  of  these 
heads  will  need  watching  until  the  time  comes  when  bees 
have  given  up  starting  cells  in  all  colonies. 

LOOKING    FOR    QUEEN-CELLS. 

We  plan  to  go  through  each  colony  about  once  in 
ten  days  to  look  for  queen-cells.  I  say  about  once  in 
ten  days,  for  it  is  not  always  possible  to  be  exact.  It 
may  happen  that  one  or  two  days  in  succession  will  be 
rainy,  and  then  the  ten  days  become  eleven  or  twelve. 
Or,  it  may  be  that  on  account  of  some  interference  with 
our  work  that  we  can  see  in  advance,  we  may  think  it 
best  to  shorten  the  ten  days  to  nine  or  less. 

Suppose  w^e  go  through  a  certain  colony  and  find  no 
queen-cell  with  as  much  as  an  egg  in  it.  The  next  time 
around  it  may  be  in  the  same  condition,  and  so  it  may 
continue  throughout  the  season.  In  that  case  there  is 
nothing  to  be  done  with  that  colony  beyond  the  examina- 
tion every  ten  days  but  to  let  it  alone  and  be  thankful. 


ISS 


FIFTY  YEARS   A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


Such  cases  are  not  as  plenty  as  I  should  like,  but  I  think 
thev  are  on  the  increase. 


DESTROYING  EGGS. 


Suppose,  however,  that  upon  one  of  our  visits  we 
find  one  or  more  cells  containing  eggs.  We  destroy  the 
incipient  cells  by  mashing  them,  and  in  the  record-book 
write  after  the  date,  "keg"  a  contraction  for  the  express- 


Fig.  6i — Cutting  Foundation. 


ive,  if  not  very  elegant  entry,  "killed  eggs."  It  is  pos- 
sible that  upon  the  next  visit  we  may  find  no  more  queen- 
cells  started,  and  that  may  be  the  last  of  them  for  the 
season.  So  long  as  we  find  only  eggs,  we  do  nothing 
more  than  to  destroy  them. 

Generally,  however,  when  eggs  are  found  in  cells. 
the  next  visit  will  find  cells  with  grubs  well  advanced. 
When  grubs  are  found  in  cells,  then  the  colony  must  be 
treated. 

As  already  mentioned,  an  easier  plan  than  the  "put- 
up"  plan  was  struck  upon,  and  for  a  time  that  had  a  run. 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES  1S9 

It  may  be  called  the  excluder  plan,  and  I  will  now  give  it 
as  we  first  practiced  it. 

EXCLUDER  PLAN  OF  TREATMENT. 

We  find  and  cage  the  queen,  destroy  all  queen-cells, 
remove  the  hive  from  its  stand,  and  put  in  its  place  a 
hive  containing  three  or  four  frames  of  foundation.  The 
foundation  is  on  one  side  of  the  hive  with  a  dummy  next 
to  it.  The  rest  of  the  hive  is  left  vacant.  Upon  this 
hive  is  put  a  queen-excluder,  and  over  the  excluder  the 
old  hive  with  its  brood  and  bees,  and  over  this  the  supers 
as  before  (Fig.  6(3).  Then  the  queen  is  run  in  at  the 
entrance  of  the  lower  hive,  and  the  colony  is  left  for  a 
week  or  ten  days. 

At  the  end  of  the  week,  or  as  soon  after  that  time 
as  we  can  conveniently  reach  it  we  take  away  the  lower 
story  with  its  excluder,  and  put  back  the  queen  in  the 
old  hive,  which  is  left  on  the  stand.  When  we  remove 
the  lower  story  with  its  three  or  four  frames  that  a  week 
before  contained  foundation,  there  will  be  less  advance 
made  in  those  frames  than  you  would  be  likely  to  sup- 
pose. The  vacant  part  will  still  be  vacant,  the  amount 
of  honey  will  be  very  small,  generally  only  one  or  two 
frames  will  have  been  occupied  by  the  queen,  and  pos- 
sibly nothing  beyond  eggs  will  be  found.  If  larvae  are 
found,  they  will  be  still  small,  and  not  in  large  quantity. 
It  appears  from  this  that  there  is  some  sulking  for  a  time 
on  the  part  of  the  queen,  or  else  that  the  bees  are  rather 
slow  to  prepare  the  foundation  for  her.  It  is  possible 
that  this  interim  without  any  laying  may  be  an  important 
part  of  the  treatment.     I  don't  know. 

SOME  FAILURES. 

At  any  rate,  in  the  first  two  seasons  of  using  the 
plan,  there  was  no  case  of  any  colony  making  any 
further  prepai'ation  for  swarming  after  being  thus 
treated.     The   third   season    (1902)    everything  did   not 


:90 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


work  so  smoothly,  but  possibly  the  treatment  was  not 
fairly  administered  in  all  cases.  Some  of  the  colonies 
did  not  take  kindly  to  the  foundation,  and  in  a  few  cases 
it  looked  as  if  they  might  have  swarmed  out  rather  than 
to  use  the  foundation.  In  one  case  they  built  comb  and 
started  a  brood-nest  in  the  vacant  part,  leaving  the  foun- 
dation untouched.  But  there  was  some  excuse  for  this 
as  the  foundation  was  weather-beaten  and  hard. 


Fig.  63 — Super-Filler. 


WORKING    TOWARD     NOX-SWARMIXG. 


Of  course  it  is  no  little  work  to  go  through  the 
colonies  every  ten  days  up  to  the  time  of  treatment,  and 
I  think  it  likely  that  it  would  work  all  right  to  treat 
every  colony  on  the  excluder  plan,  or  some  other  plan, 
€arly  in  the  honey-flow,  whether  they  had  grubs  in  qreen- 
cells  .or  not.  But  there  are  some  colonies  that  will  go 
through  the  whole  season  with  never  a  grub  in  a  queen- 
cell — possibly  never  an  ^gg — and  exactly  those  colonies 
are  the  ones  most  likely  to  give  record-yields.  To  interfere 
with  their  work,  even  for  a  week  in  a  slight  degree,  is  not 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  191 

desirable.  There  is  also  another  important  reason  for 
allowing  every  colony  willing  to  do  so  to  go  through 
the  whole  season  without  any  preparation  for  swarming 
and  without  any  interference.  I  am  trying  all  the  time 
to  work  at  least  a  little  toward  a  non-swarming  strain 
of  bees,  and  if  all  colonies  were  treated  in  advance 
how  world  I  know  which  were  the  non-s warmers  from 
which  to  choose  my  breeding  stock?  Their  careful  rec- 
ord mrst  be  kept. 

EMPTY    FRAMES    USED. 

Some  time  later  a  little  change  was  made  so  as 
to  make  the  queen  better  satisfied  with  her  ne^^-  quarters. 
Instead  of  putting  foundation  under  the  excluder,  a 
brood-frame  is  put  there,  at  one  side.  It  is  preferably 
one  with  very  little  brood  in  it,  the  object  being  merely 
to  hold  the  queen  in  the  hive,  but  not  to  encourage  her 
to  do  much  in  the  way  of  laying.  As  a  farther  dis- 
couragement to  laying  and  comb-building  no  other  comb 
is  put  in  the  hive,  nor  even  the  least  starter  of  founda- 
tion. Two  or  three  other  frames  entirely  empty  are 
placed  beside  the  brood-comb.  No  dummy  is  needed. 
You  might  expect  that  the  bees  very  promptly  fill  with 
comb  one  or  more  of  these  empty  frames.  They  don't. 
At  the  end  of  a  week  or  ten  days  you  may  find  one 
frame  half  fillled,  with  a  very  little  comb  in  the  second  ; 
perhaps  only  a  little  comb  in  the  one  frame. 

As  to  the  rest,  of  course  the  proceeding  is  just  the 
same  as  when  foundation  was  used.  ^ 

DESTROYING    QUEEN-CELLS    TO    PREVENT    SWARMING. 

Among  the  first  things  a  beginner  thinks  he  has 
learned  is  that  destroying  queen-cells  will  prevent  swarm- 
ire.  ?rd  tl-en  he  is  sorelv  disappointed  to  find  that  he  is 
mistaken  about  it.  But  I  must  confess  that  I  have  a  good 
denl   more   faith   in   it  than   I    formerlv   had.     Not  that 


192  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

I  would  for  a  minute  trust  to  it  as  a  sole  means  to 
prevent  swarming.  But  I  do  know  that  in  a  good  many 
cases  it  is  efficient.  Perhaps  one  cause  of  my  change 
of  view  is  the  change  in  my  bees.  Breeding  constantly 
for  improvement  in  storing,  and  at  the  same  time 
giving  preference  to  those  least  inclined  to  swarm,  it 
is  possible  that  destroying  cells  has  more  effect  than  it 
formerly  had. 

It  may  be  well  to  give  some  examples,  taking  just  as 
they  come  in  order  some  colonies  that  needed  no  other 
treatment  to  prevent  swarming.  I  take  them  from  the 
}ear  1908,  one  of  the  best  honey  years.  The  first  one 
I  come  to  had  a  2-year-old  queen,  and  Ji-^ne  23  I  de- 
stroyed a  grub  in  just  one  queen-cell.  No  other  queen- 
cell  was  started.  If  that  had  not  been  destroyed,  I 
suppose  the  colony  would  have  swarmed,  and  that  would 
have  lessened  the  number  of  sections  produced,  which 
was  181,  beside  finishing  up  some  "go-backs."  The 
next  had  a  three-year-old  queen,  and  gave  244  sections. 
June  23  one  egg  in  a  cell  was  destroyed,  and  that  was 
all  for  the  season.  The  queen  was  superseded  after 
August  8.  The  next  had  a  2-year-old  queen,  and  gave 
2T6  sections.  I  destroyed,  June  15,  one  egg  in  a  queen- 
cell,  and  June  24  one  grub.  The  next  had  a  queen  of 
the  previous  year  and  gave  100  sections.  It  never  had 
even  an  egg  in  a  queen-cell  the  whole  season.  The  next 
had  a  yearling  queen,  and  gave  145  sections,  besides 
having  taken  from  it,  in  May,  3  brood  with  adhering 
tees.  Not  an  egg  in  a  queen-cell.  The  next  had  a 
yearling  queen,  and  gave  211  sections.  It  had  one  egg 
in  a  queen-cell  June  6,  also  July  27  and  August  6.  That 
may  be  enough  to  show  that  at  least  in  some  cases  de- 
stroying cells  was  worth  while.  Perhaps  one  colony  in 
three  will  behave  thus  well. 

DEQUEENING   TREATMENT.  * 

Latterly  no  one  plan  of  treatment  is  followed  ex- 
clusively.    It  may  be  the  "put-up"  or  the  excluder  plan. 


FIFTY  YEARS    A:M0NG  THE  BEES  103 

or  it  may  be  dequeening  for  about  10  days.  This  de- 
queening  treatment  is  the  one  most  generally  used.  The 
queen  is  removed,  the  queen-cells  are  killed,  and  in 
10  days  the  queen-cells  are  again  destroyed  and  their 
own  queen  returned,  or  another  queen  given.  Some- 
times a  queenlessness  of  a  week  seems  to  do  as  well. 
At  any  rate,  a  queen  in  a  provisioned  cage  may  be  given 
in  a  week,  for  it  will  be  a  little  time  before  she  is  out 
ready  to  lay.  F^ossibly,  instead  of  waiting  10  days  and 
giving  a  laying  queen,  a  ripe  queen-cell  or  a  newly  born 
virgin  is  given  at  the  time  of  removing  the  old  queen. 
This  has  the  advantage  that  if  there  is  anything  like 
European  foul  brood  in  the  case,  it  may  be  considered 
somewhat  in  the  light  of  a  cure.  It  has  the  disad- 
vantage that  my  assistant  is  quite  strongly  opposed  to 
the  idea  of  having  a  virgin  in  a  honey-hive,  lest  she 
-hould  take  it  into  her  head  to  get  the  colony  to  swarm 
out,  a  thing  that  may  happen  once  in  a  great  while  in 
reality,  and  in  the  imagination  of  my  assistant  quite  fre- 
quently. 

REPLACING   WITH    BETTER   QUEEN. 

On  the  whole  perhaps  the  most  common  thing  is 
to  replace  the  removed  queen  with  a  young  laying  queen 
taken  from  a  nucleus.  This  will  generally  result  in  replac- 
ing the  old  queen  with  one  of  better  stock,  for  the  young 
queen  will  be  reared  from  best  stock.  If,  however, 
the  old  queen  be  an  extra  good  one,  she  will  be  put  into 
a  nucleus  when  removed,  and  then  returned  at  the 
proper  time.  Whether  the  old  queen  be  returned  or  a 
new  one  given,  she  is  likely  to  be  given  with  a  frame  of 
brood  and  adhering  bees  from  the  nucleus,  so  there 
is  no  interruption  in  laying.  If  for  any  reason  she  is 
given  in  an  introducing  cage,  the  cage  is  thrust  into  the 
entrance  of  the  hive,  in  such  way  that  the  bees  will  be 
sure  to  take  care  of  it,  and  where  it  can  be  looked  at 
any  time  without  opening  the  hive.  I  am  not  sure  but 
what  a  queen  at  the  entrance  is  a  little  better  received 


194 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 


than     elsewhere.        Of   course   there   might   be    a    little 
danger  of  chilling  in  a  very  cold  time. 

If  the  old  queen  is  returned  there  is  a  possibil- 
ity of  furthur  attempts  at  swarming.  But  if  a  young 
queen  be  given,  after  ten  days  of  queenlessness,  that 
colony  is  considered  settled  for  the  season,  and  no 
further  watch  is  kept  against  swarming. 


Pig-  63^Super-Filler 


Somewhat  curiously,  it  is  the  common  thing,  upon 
opening  a  hive  a  week  after  giving  the  queen  to  find  one 
or  more  queen-cells  started.  I  don't  know  why.  Per- 
haps the  bees  have  been  frightened  because  of  their 
spell  of  queenlessness,  and  want  to  provide  against  its 
happening  again.  At  any  rate,  when  these  cells  are 
killed  they  are  not  replaced.  Possibly  the  bees  would 
destroy  them  themselves  after  finding  thit  the  queen 
was    settled    to    work. 

Some  think  it  best,  when  a  queen  arrives  at  a 
certain  age,  to  replace  her  w^ith  a  young  queen.  It  is 
held  by  some  that  a  queen  does  her  best  work  in  her 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  195 

first  year,  and  that  no  qneen  should  be  allowed  to  do  a 
second  year's  work,  because  there  will  always  be  a  gain 
by  replacing  her  with  a  younger  queen.  Some  of  the 
men  that  hold  such  views,  and  practise  accordingly,  are 
such  successful  beekeepers  that  I  dare  not  say  they  are 
wrong.  Whether  it  be  a  difiference  in  bees,  in  locality, 
management,  or  what  not,  I  do  not  believe  that  such  prac- 
tise w^ould  be  best  for  me. 

I  am  pretty  sure  that  many  of  my  queens  do  as 
good  work  in  the  second  as  in  the  first  year,  possi- 
bly better.  But  it  is  not  altogether  a  question  as  to 
whether  a  queen  does  as  well  or  better  in  her  second 
year,  comparing  it  with  the  first.  The  question  is 
rather  as  to  what  she  will  do  in  her  second  or  third 
year  as  compared  with  what  would  be  done  by  the 
average  young  queen  that  would  replace  her.  How- 
ever it  may  be  elsewhere,  the  rule  with  my  bees  is  that 
a  queen  which  distinguishes  herself  by  a  good  crop  of 
honey  in  her  first  year,  will  keep  above  the  average 
as  long  as  she  lives.  And  I  can  count  on  the  bees  super- 
seding her  at  the  close  of  harvest  wdienever  she  reaches 
PIT  aee  when  it  world  seem  profitable  for  me  to  re- 
place her  with  a  younger  queen. 

Another  thing  may  be  worth  considering.  It 
is  claimed,  and  with  some  show  of  reason,  that  longev- 
ity in  bees  is  an  important  factor.  One  colony  will  be 
stronger  in  bees  and  brood  than  another  beside  it, 
while  the  latter  will  store  more  honey.  The  explan- 
ation given  is  that  the  bees  in  the  second  colony  are 
longer  lived.  It  may  not  be  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  if  one  has  a  strain  of  bees  with  queens  which 
live  to  unusual  age,  that  the  workers  will  also  live  to 
unusual  age.  So  it  may  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  en- 
courage those  queens  which  show  a  disposition  to 
live   beyond   the   usual   span. 

On  these  accounts  it  is  my  practise  to  leave  the 
matter  of  superseding  entirely  to  the  bees  in  all  cases, 
except  where  for  some  reason  other  than  age  it  will  seem 


H)r.  FIFTY  YEARS   A^IONG  THE  BEES 

an  improvement  to  replace  with  a  younger  queen. 
That  reason  may  be  that  the  workers  of  a  queen  are 
unusually  vicious,  that  they  do  not  seal  their  honey 
white  enough,  or  there  may  be  some  other  fault,  but 
generally  it  will  be  because  they  did  not  store  honey 
enough  the  previous  year.  When,  then,  the  colony 
of  such  a  queen  shows  persistence  in  the  matter  of  prep- 
aration for  swarming,  she  will  be  replaced  by  another  as 
part  of  the  treatment  of  that  colony.  But  old  age  alone 
will  not  endanger  her  life. 

An  item  of  some  interest  is  the  fact  that  when 
I  look  through  the  colonies  in  the  spring  to  clip  any 
qreen  that  may  have  whole  wings,  I  find  very  little  use 
for  the  scissors  if  the  previous  season  was  very  poor, 
whereas  after  a  big  honey-yield  I  generally  find  a  good 
deal  of  clipping  to  do.  In  other  words,  there  seems  to 
be  more  superseding  at  the  close  of  a  good  than  of  a 
poor  year.  Has  it  only  happened  to  come  so,  or  does  a 
good   harvest   wear    out   the    queen    faster? 

THE     "jumbo"     hive. 

At  one  time  I  had  strong  hopes  that  by  the  use  of  a 
large  hive  with  a  large  frame  I  might  greatly  diminish, 
if  not  entirely  suppress,  swarming.  Others  reported 
success  with  what  was  called  the  Jumbo  hive.  At  Fig. 
67  will  be  seen  one  of  these  hives.  The  frame  is  2% 
inches  deeper  than  the  regular  Langstroth  frame,  and  if 
you  will  look  at  the  front  of  the  hive  in  the  picture,  you 
will  see  that  it  is  2^/8  inches  higher  than  the  8-frame 
dovetailed  hive  by  its  side.  The  Jumbo  has  ten  frames, 
and  the  extra  depth  makes  its  equivalent  to  a  12-frame 
Langstroth. 

I  put  bees  in  two  of  these  hives  in  the  home  apiary, 
and  waited  to  see  what  would  result  the  next  summer 
with  much  interest.  The  very  first  colony  to  send  ort 
a  swarm  was  in  one  of  these  Jumbo  hives !  I  was 
sorrv,  but  it  didn't    make     me     sick     abed.     I     had     be- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  197 

come    hardened    to     failures     and     disappointments     in 
following  after  the  will-o'-the-wisp — non-swarming. 

PILES    OF    STORIES. 

The  problem  of  prevention  of  swarming  would  be 
very  much  easier  if  I  were  running  for  extracted  honey 
instead  of  comb.  I  am  very  much  of  the  opinion  that  I 
could  pile  up  stories  as  in  Fig.  68,  and  not  have  one 
colony  in  a  hundred  swarm,  the  fact  that  no  such  pile 
ever  swarmed  for  me  confirming  that  opinion ;  and  I 
have  had  a  few  such  piles  every  year  for  a  number  of 
years. 

VEXTILATIOX    TO    PREVENT    SWARMIXG. 

It  is  not,  I  think,  so  much  the  abundance  of  room, 
as  the  abundance  of  ventilation  thats  prevents  swarming, 
although  the  room  is  important.  Notice  the  opportunity 
for  ventilation  in  that  pile  in  Fig.  68.  The  entrance, 
which  you  cannot  see,  is  1'?  inches  wide  and  2  inches 
deep.  The  second  story  is  shoved  forward  on  the  first 
story  so  as  to  make  a  ventilating  space  of  half  an  inch  at 
the  back,  between  the  two  stories.  The  third  story  is 
shoved  back  to  make  a  space  in  front :  and  the  ventilating 
space  between  the  third  and  fourth  stories  is  at  the  back. 
Lastly  the  cover  is  shoved  forward  to  make  a  space  of 
half  an  inch  or  more.  Thus  you  see  there  is  a  fine 
chance  for  a  free  circulation  of  air  right  through  the 
whole  pile.  Alas  that  such  a  thing  can  not  be  used  for 
comb  honey. 

DEMAREE   PLAN. 

If  I  were  running  for  extracted  honey,  I  could  get 
along  with  little  or  no  swarming  by  following  the 
plan  of  G.  \\\  Demaree.  When  the  time  comes  that 
there  is  danger  of  swarming,  put  into  a  second  story  all 
the  frames  from  below  except  one  containing  the  least 
brood,  fill  up  the  vacancies  with  empty  combs  or  frames 


198  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

of  foundation,  put  a  queen  excluder  between  the  two 
stories,  and  leave  the  queen  in  the  lower  story.  Then 
as  the  brood  hatches  out  in  the  second  story  the  combs 
will  be  filled  with  honey  and  become  extracting-combs. 

SHAKEN    SWARM    WITHOUT    INCREASE. 

Another  plan  that  I  would  enjoy  trying  if  I  were 
running  for  extracted  honey  is  one  variation  of  forced 
or  shaken  swarms.  It  is  the  simple  plan  of  making 
a  shaken  swarm,  say  from  A,  and  then  piling  all  the 
brood  from  A  on  another  strong  colony,  B.  European 
bee-keepers  tell  us  that  with  this  accession  of  brood  B 
will  not  swarm.  S.  Simmins,  of  England,  and  some 
others,  give  A  half  the  bees  from  B.  A  would  be  all 
right  for  comb  honey,  but  B  would  not — at  least  not 
right  away — but  it  would  be  all  right  for  extracted  honey. 

ACCIDENTAL    SWARMS. 

The  best  I  can  do  there  will  sometimes  be  what 
might  be  called  accidental  swarms.  Perhaps  a  strong 
colony  has  in  some  way  lost  its  queen  in  the  busy  season, 
and  when  the  first  reared  young  queen  emerges — if  one 
is  allowed  to  emerge — there  will  surely  be  a  swarm  is- 
sue. Generally  such  a  thing  will  be  headed  oflf  before 
the  young  queen  has  a  chance  to  emerge,  but  once  in  a 
great  while  she  gets  ahead  of  me. 

Although  there  is  to  me  nothing  entrancing  in  the 
sight  of  such  a  swarm  whirling  through  the  air,  there  is 
one  thing  I  do  very  much  enjoy  in  it — it  is  the  sight  of 
the  seething  mass  hurrying  into  the  hive  when  dumped  in 
front  of  it,  as  in  Fig.  69.  You  will  see  that  a  deep  bot- 
tom-board has  been  placed  in  front  of  Xo.  32.  on  which 
the  swarm  was  dumped  (it  had  previously  settled  on  a 
low  plum  tree),  and  the  bees  have  flowed  all  over  the 
sides  of  the  bottom-board,  and  also  over  the  front  of  the 
hive.     But  I  don't  want  the  distress  of  seeing  them  pour- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  199 

ing  out  of  the  hive  in  a  swarm  for  the  sake  of  the  pleas- 
ure of  seeing  them  hustle  back  into  the  same  hive  when 
dumped  down  in  front  of  it. 

TAKING    OFF    SECTIONS. 

As  fast  as  supers  are  filled  they  are  taken  off.  I  do 
not  think  I  could  be  bothered  to  take  off  each  section  as 
fast  as  finished,  putting  in  an  empty  one  to  take  its  place. 
It  would  take  too  much  time.  Neither  do  I  like  to  wait 
till  every  section  in  a  super  is  entirely  finished.  Unless 
the  bees  are  crowded  very  much,  there  will  be  some  un- 
capped cells  in  the  outside  sections  which  the  bees  will 
be  very  long  in  sealing.  If  these  are  waited  for,  the 
central  sections  may  lose  a  little  of  their  snowy  whiteness 
— the  thing  which,  perhaps,  helps  most  to  sell  them. 

A  super  is,  then,  taken  off  when  all  but  the  outside 
sections  are  finished.  This  can  be  pretty  well  told  by 
glancing  over  the  top  of  the  super,  although  sometimes 
the  sections  may  be  all  sealed  at  the  upper  part  and  hard- 
ly filled  below.  A  look  at  the  under  part  of  the  upraised 
super  will  decide  it.  The  sharp,  circular  end  of  the  hive- 
tool  is  thrust  under  the  supers  to  pry  apart  the  attach- 
ment of  bee-glue. 

Unless  care  is  taken,  bees  will  be  killed  when  a 
super,  which  has  just  been  taken  off,  is  put  back  again. 
Sometimes  there  may  be  so  few  bees  in  the  way  that  the 
super  can  be  put  on  quickly  without  danger.  Oftener 
too  many  bees  are  in  the  way  for  this,  so  I  put  one  end 
on  its  place,  and  with  a  series  of  rapid  up-and-down  mo- 
tions, gradually  lower  the  other  end  to  its  place.  This 
gives  the  bees  time  to  get  out  of  the  way,  and  there  are 
seldom  any  crushed  by  it. 

CLOSE    OF    CLOVER    HARVEST. 

Formerly  I  took  off  all  supers  at  the  close  of  the 
white-clover  harvest.     Of  late  there  has  been  a  tendency 


200  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

to  leave  them  on  for  the  later  flow.  I  am  not  sure 
whether  this  is  wise,  except  in  the  few  years  in  which 
from  some  unknown  source  some  exceptionally  white 
sections  were  secured  at  the  Hastings  apiary.  In  other 
years  at  the  Hastings  apiary,  and  in  all  years  at  the  other 
apiaries,  the  honey  stored  during  the  cucumber  flow  is 
rather  dark  in  color,  and  is  likely  to  have  an  unpleasant 
appearance  on  the  surface,  as  if  lightly  varnished  with 


Fig.  64 — Load  of  Forty  Supers. 

l:ee-glr,e.  But  of  late  years  the  late  honey  has  been  im- 
proving, both  in  color  and  flavor.  I  don't  know  why.  Pos- 
sibly a  greater  proportion  of  sweet  clover  may  have  im- 
proved the  flavor.  Possibly,  also,  tlie  increase  of 
heartsease  may  have  something  to  do  with  it.  Although 
I  think  my  bees  get  no  inconsiderable  cfrantity  of  lioney 
from  cucumbers,  I  confess  I  don't  know  what  pure 
cucumber  honey  tastes  like,  but  I  am  afraid  it  does  not 
rank  very  high  in   flavor. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  201 

LATE    HOXEY. 

As  I  said,  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  ever  wise,  except 
in  the  Hastings  apiary,  to  allow  supers  to  stay  on  after 
the  white-clover  harvest  is  over.  True,  a  considerable 
amount  of  honey  may  be  got  in  sections  from  the  late 
flow,  but  it  is  not  all  of  it  of  the  best,  and  if  it  were  stored 
in  brood-combs  and  saved  as  extra  combs  to  be  crowded 
into  the  brood-chamber  the  next  year  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  harvest,  there  might  be  nearly  or  quite  as 
many  more  sections  of  white-clover  honey  stored,  to  off- 
set what  was  lost  in  sections  in  the  fall. 

GETTING  BEES  OUT  OF  SECTIONS. 

For  the  purpose  of  getting  bees  out  of  sections  I 
have  tried  pretty  thoroughly  the  Porter  escape  and  other 
escapes  which  work  on  the  principle  of  allowing  the  bees 
to  go  down  out  of  the  supers  without  the  chance  of 
returning,  but  they  do  not  work  fast  enough  to  suit 
me.  When  I  go  to  an  out-apiary.  I  always  want  to  bring 
home  with  me  all  the  honey  taken  off  that  day.  Even 
at  home  I  want  it  taken  in  the  same  day  it 
is  taken  off.  I  may  want  to  go  elsewhere  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  I  don't  want  to  be  hindered  from  an  early  start 
by  having  to  get  it  in  before  starting.  Besides,  I  am 
just  a  little  afraid  that  if  I  should  make  a  practice  of 
leaving  honey  out  over  escapes  till  the  next  day,  some 
one  none  too  scrupulous  might  learn  the  trick  and  by  a 
night  visit  save  me  the  trouble  of  taking  off  some  of  the 
honey.  So  whatever  honey  is  taken  off  any  day  is  got 
into  the  house  before  we  get  to  bed  that  night ;  for  some- 
times it  happens  that  when  we  have  a  big  day's  work  at 
an  out-apiary  we  do  not  get  home  till  8  o'clock  or  later. 

SMOKING   BEES   DOWN. 

WTien  a  super  is  to  be  taken  off,  smoke  is  blown 
down  into  it  until  a  sufficient  number  of  bees  have  gone 
down  out  of  it.     What  that  sufficient  number  is  depends 


202  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

upon  circumstances.  If  it  is  early  in  the  day,  and  we  do 
not  care  to  take  the  honey  home  till  late,  there  is  no  need 
to  drive  out  so  many  bees.  Other  circumstances  may 
also  make  a  difference,  and  we  "crt  our  coat  according 
to  the  cloth." 

SUPERS    STANDING   OPEN. 

Suppose  the  honey-flow  is  in  full  blast,  and  we  com- 
mence to  take  off  supers  early  in  the  day,  or  at  least  in 


F'g-  ^5 — One-cent  Cage. 


the  forenoon.  At  such  a  time  there  is  little  need  to  be 
very  careful  about  robbers,  and  it  may  be  that  honey 
may  stand  exposed  for  hours  without  being  troubled  by 
them.  So  when  the  super  has  been  smoked  it  is  taken 
off  and  set  on  the  ground  leaning  against  the  hive,  the 
hive-cover  is  put  on  the  remaining  supers,  and  then  our 
removed  super  is  set  on  its  end  on  top,  so  as  to  project 
a  little  over  the  side  of  the  hive.  After  a  time,  perhaps 
half  an  hour,  the  bees  are  likely  to  start  a  trail  from  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  203 

super  over  the  side  of  the  hive  to  join  the  bees  of  the 
colony  below. 

A  number  of  supers  may  be  thus  standing  at  a  time 
on  their  respective  hives.  Sometimes  two  supers  are 
taken  from  the  same  hive,  and,  in  rare  cases,  especially 
late   in   the   season,   three. 

WATCHING    FOR    R0B1JH:R-BEES. 

These  supers,  left  standing  on  the  hives,  however, 
are  never  left  entirely  out  of  mind,  and  a  glance  is  given 
toward  them  every  few  minutes.  If  at  any  time  bees  are 
seen  flying  with  their  heads  towards  a  super,  immediate 
attention  is  given  to  the  matter,  and  the  supers  hustled 
ofif  the  hives.  When  the  bees  are  nearly  all  out,  or  at 
any  time  when  it  is  not  desirable  to  leave  supers  stand- 
ing on  the  hives,  they  are  put  in  piles,  preferably  not 
more  than   ten  high. 

WHEN   ROBBER-BEES  TROUBLE. 

If  fear  of  robbers  does  not  allow  the  supers  to  stand 
exposed,  the  super  is  still  put  on  top  of  the  hive,  and  a 
good  many  of  the  bees  are  at  once  driven  out  by  smoke. 
The  smoker  is  held  on  the  side  toward  the  wind,  so  that 
the  wind  will  help  drive  the  smoke  between  the  sections, 
and  from  time  to  time  the  bees  are  brushed  off.  The 
bee-brush  generally  used  is  the  Coggshall,  but  if  it  were 
not  for  the  trouble  of  preparing  one  fresh  every  day,  I 
think  I  would  prefer  a  good-sized  bunch  of  asparagus, 
sweet  clover,  goldenrod,  or  something  of  the  kind  tied 
together. 

MILLER    TENT-ESCAPE. 

In  piling  the  supers  a  sunny  place  is  preferred,  to 
entice  out  the  bees.  A  deep  bottom-board  is  put  on  the 
ground,  a  super  placed  on  it,  and  the  entrance  closed  with 
wirecloth  somewhat  as  a  hive-entrance  is  closed  for  haul- 


20-1 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


ing  (Fig.  72).  Then  over  the  super  is  thrown  what 
Root's  "A  B  C  of  Bee  Culture"  has  been  pleased  to  call 
the  ]\Iiller  tent-escape  (Fig.  73).  (Later  on  Fll  tell  how 
it's  made).  When  a  second  super  is  brought  to  the  pile, 
the  escape  is  kicked  off,  the  super  placed  on  the  pile  and 
the  escape  thrown  over  it.  When  the  pile  becomes  too 
high  to  kick  off  the  escape,  it  is  shoved  off  with  the 
hand,  but  still  allowed  to  fall  to  the  ground,  and  after- 
ward picked  up. 


Fig.   66. — Colony  at   left   treated  for  sicanning. 


The  bees  can  now  make  their  exit  through  the  top 
of  the  escape  at  their  leisure,  and  from  time  to  time  those 
that  have  gathered  on  the  wirecloth  below  are  allowed  to 
escape.  ^Matters  may  be  hurried  up  a  little  by  blowing 
in  smoke  below.  But  this  is  hardly  advisable,  for  the 
smoke,  being  more  or  less  confined,  is  likely  to  give  an 
unpleasant  flavor  to  the  sections.  When  there  is  abun- 
dance of  time  for  the  bees  to  get  out  without  being  hur- 
ried, or  if  the  pile  is  only  five  or  six  high,  it  is  better 
not  to  have  any  opening  at  the  bottom  of  the  pile,  but  to 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMO^Xx  THE  BEES 


>05 


set  the  first  super  on  a  fiat  surface  that  admits  no  fight, 
or  right  en  the  grass. 


KEEPING   TALLY   OF   SECTIOXS, 


The  number  of  the  colony  from  which  each  super  is 
taken  is  marked  in  pencil  on  one  of  the  middle  sections, 
perhaps  when  the  super  is  first  taken  from  the  hive,  cer- 
tainly before  it  is  taken  from  the  hive  entirely.     A  board 


"  «BV 

Jl 

j                           .^l^ggjjBHjra^ 

Fig.  67. — Jumbo  Hive   (at  right). 

or  a  slip  of  paper  is  kept  where  the  supers  are  piled,  and 
as  each  super  is  taken  to  the  pile  the  number  of  the  hive 
and  the  number  of  sections  in  the  super  is  taken.  Oc- 
casionally the  number  of  supers  in  the  pile  is  counted,  so 
as  to  see  whether  it  tallies  with  the  number  taken  on  the 
memorandum,  for  without  this  there  is  danger  that  some 
super  might  be  forgotten,  and  the  colony  not  have  proper 
credit.  Wdien  convenient,  possibly  while  we  sit  resting 
a  little  while  after  the  supers  are  all  piled,  possibly  not 
till  the  next  morning,  the  numbers  on  the  memorandum 


206  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

are  used  to  give  each  colony  its  proper  credit  in  the  rec- 
ord-book. 

CREDITING  COLONIES. 

The  credit  to  each  colony  is  entered  over  the  first 
line  that  belongs  to  that  colony,  so  that  it  may  easily  be 
seen  at  a  glance,  and  so  that  it  may  be  convenient  to  have 
all  the  credit  on  one  spot.  If  a  super  containing  2-1:  sec- 
tions is  taken  from  a  colony,  the  number  24  is  entered 
over  its  first  line.  Then  when  another  24  sections  is 
taken  from  that  colony,  +24  is  written  after  the  first  24, 
and  whatever  number  is  taken  each  time,  that  number  is 
put  down  with  the  plus  sign  preceding.  Sometimes  it 
happens  that  a  super  partly  filled  is  taken  from  one  hive 
and  put  on  another.  Suppose  it  is  estimated  th-^.t  the 
super  contains  the  equivalent  of  T  sections,  and  that  it 
is  taken  from  No.  21  and  given  to  Xo.  45.  At  Xo.  21 
will  be  entered  +7,  and  at  X^'o.  45  will  be  entered  — T. 
At  the  end  of  the  season  the  whole  will  be  summed  up. 
In  an  extra  good  year,  an  average  colony  mav  have  some 
such  account  as  this  :  24-1-48-^48—7+24+16=153.  But 
the  minus  sign  very  seldom  occurs. 

WHEELING    SUPERS    IN. 

At  the  home  apiary,  the  piles  of  supers  are  generally 
left  till  nightfall,  so  the  bees  will  have  abundance  of  time 
to  be  fully  out.  Then  they  are  taken  on  a  wheelbarrow 
to  the  honey-room   (Fig.  74). 

You  will  notice  that  the  wheelbarrow  is  innocent  of 
any  box  or  tray.  It  is  a  common  railroad  barrow,  with 
the  tray  removed.  In  this  shape  it  is  very  convenient 
for  wheeling  supers  or  stove-wood,  the  principal  uses  to 
which  it  is  put.  When  desired  the  tray  can  be  replaced 
to  be  used  for  other  purposes. 

HAULING  SUPERS   FROM   OUT-APIARY. 

At  the  out-apiaries  the  supers  must  be  loaded  on 
the  wagon,  and  sometimes  at  the  close  of  the  season  that 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


20' 


is  a  rather  ticklish  job.  When  we  go  to  the  apiary  in 
the  morning,  we  drive  pretty  close  to  the  place  where 
the  piles  of  supers  are  to  be — much  closer  than  it  will  be 
safe  to  take  the  horses  at  the  close  of  the  day's  work 


fig.  68. — Pile  of  Stories. 

when  the  bees  are  thoroughly  stirred  up — and  after  the 
horses  are  unhitched  the  wagon  is  taken  by  hand  to  the 
most  convenient  spot  for  loading  on  the  supers. 

LOADING    SUPERS    ON     WAGON. 


Unfortunately,  although  the  wagon  was  built  espe- 
cially  for  the  purpose,   some   irons   prevent   a   perfectly 


208  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

level  floor  on  which  to  put  the  supers,  so  strips  of  thin 
board  or  lath  are  laid  so  the  supers  will  be  level.  The 
size  of  the  wagon-box  is  such  as  to  take  on  one  side  three 
supers  running  crosswise,  and  on  the  other  side  two 
supers  running  fore  and  aft.  Great  care  is  taken  to 
build  up  the  piles  true,  and  when  all  are  on  they  are 
fastened  together  by  laths  with  nails  driven  partly  in,  so 
the  nails  can  easily  be  drawn  upon  reaching  home.  Each 
pile  has  a  lath  vertically,  across  the  top  laths  are  braced 
in  both  directions,  so  that  the  whole  load  is  practically 
one  solid  pile  (Fig.  64).  As  the  load  comes  mainly  on 
the  hind  axle,  40  supers  are  as  many  as  we  like  to  haul 
at  one  load.    We  seldom  take  so  large  a  load. 

As  I  have  said,  putting  the  load  on  the  wagon  at  the 
close  of  the  season  is  something  of  a  ticklish  job,  and  is 
mostly  done  under  cover  of  smoke,  my  assistant  playing 
the  smoker  wherever  it  will  do  the  most  good.  The 
character  of  the  tent-escape  comes  into  fine  play  here,  for 
it  can  so  quickly  and  surely  be  thrown  into  the  right 
place  that  the  robber-bees  have  little  chance  at  the  piles, 
so  the  smoking  is  mostly  done  at  the  wagon.  A  robber- 
cloth  (Fig.  75)  is  even  a  little  better  than  the  tent 
escape. 

When  the  load  is  all  on,  the  wagon  is  drawn  away  to 
a  distance  safe  for  the  horses.  This  may  be  8  or  10  rods, 
or  it  may  be  more  than  twice  that  distance.  Fortunately, 
at  each  out-apiary  the  ground  lies  in  such  a  way  that 
after  the  first  few  rods  the  ground  is  descending,  making 
is  easy  to  draw  the  load  the  longer  distance.  Then  the 
horses  are  hitched  on  as  speedily  as  possible. 

HONEY-ROOM. 

Generally.  Philo  will  be  ready  to  take  oflf  the  load 
when  we  get  home,  unless  we  get  home  too  near  bed- 
time and  Philo  has  gone  home,  in  which  case  I  am  not 
plways  a  good  enough  fighter  to  keep  the  women  from 
helping  to  carry  the  supers  into  the  honey-room.     This 


FIFTY  YEARS    AAIOXG  THE  BEES  209 

is  an  addition  built  onto  my  dwelling-house.  It  is  20x15 
feet,  and  the  floor-timbers  are  blocked  up  with  stones  so 
that  it  will  sustain  a  great  weight  without  breaking. 

A\'hen  the  supers  of  sections  are  taken  in,  they  are 
piled  up  near  the  center  of  the  room  with  no  very  great 
precision,  usually  being  piled  crosswise,  that  is,  each 
super  placed  across  the  one  under  it,  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  ventilation  and  to  make  it  easier  to  lift  the  supers 
off  the  pile  than  they  would  be  if  piled  straight  and  stuck 
together  with  bee-glue. 

PUSH-BOARD. 

Perhaps  the  sections  will  be  taken  out  of  the  supers 
the  next  day.  possibly  not  for  a  week  or  more.  A  push- 
board  (Fig.  TG)  is  used  to  push  the  sections  out  of  the 
super.     This  is  made  as  follows : 

Take  a  board  IQ^i  inches  long  and  11  inches  wide. 
Take  boards  12  inches  long  and  ^  inch  thick  and  nail 
them  across  the  first  board  so  as  to  just  cover  its  length, 
rmd  project  ^  inch  at  each  side.  This  makes  a  surface 
1 69/^x12  inches.  If  this  board  be  now  put  inside  an 
empty  T-super,  and  the  T-super  raised,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  board  will  easily  drop  through  the  super,  ex- 
cept where  it  is  upheld  by  the  three  T-tin  supports  on 
eich  side.  Places  must  be  cut  out  of  the  board  so  that 
the  supports  will  present  no  hindrance.  In  order  to 
make  these  places  abundantly  large,  I  cut  them  1^2x3^ 
inch.  When  cut  out.  the  measure  will  be,  from  the  cor- 
ner of  the  board  to  the  first  place  or  hole,  3^  inches, 
then  1^2  inches  for  the  hole,  then  2  13-lG  inches  to  the 
next  hole.  Pleasure  the  same  way  from  each  of  the 
other  three  corners,  and  you  will  have  on  each  side  three 
holes  that  will  allow  the  supports  of  the  T-tins  to  pass 
through   without   obstruction. 

Occasionally,  after  pushing  sections  out  with  the 
push-board.  I  found  at  the  lower  part  of  some  of  the  cen- 
tral sections  some  of  the  cells  looking  watery,  showing 


210 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


that  the  push-board  had  crowded  down  a  httle  too  hard 
at  the  central  part.  To  obviate  that  I  put  a  httle  cleat 
about  ^  inch  wide  and  }i  thick  at  the  outer  edge  of  the 
board  on  all  sides,  giving  the  pressure  right  where  it  is 
needed.  If  the  outer  part  of  the  sections  comes  out.  there 
is  no  danger  that  the  rest  of  the  sections  will  not  keep 
company.  Unfortunately,  the  picture  does  not  contain  the 
little  cleats. 


Fig.    6g. — Szvarm    dumped   before   No.   32. 


TAKING    SECTIONS    OUT    OF    SUPER. 


Being  now  ready  to  take  out  the  unfinished  sections, 
the  first  thing  is  to  see  whether  there  are  any  to  take  out. 
if  a  careful  inspection  shows  that  all  sections  in  a  super 
are  sealed  down  to  the  bottom,  it  goes  directly  to  the  pile 
of  finished  sections.  If  any  sections  are  seen  that  are  not 
finished,  the  super  is  placed  on  the  table,  and  the  little 
sticks  removed  that  were  crow^ded  between  the  ends  of 
the  sections  on  top.  A  flat  hive-cover,  or  a  board  a  little 
larger  than  the  super,  is  placed  upon  it.     Then  super  and 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  211 

board  are  both  turned  upside  down,  the  board  being 
firmly  held  on  the  super  by  one  hand  while  reversing. 
If  the  super  should  be  reversed  without  this  board  being 
held  on  it.  there  might  be  a  possibility  of  sections 
tumbling  out  and  breaking.  (The  board  is  needed  under 
the  reversed  super  in  any  case).  The  super  is  now  ly- 
ing upside  down  on  the  board,  the  board  even  with  the 
edge  of  the  table.  The  side  of  the  super  having  the  fol- 
lower is  nearest,  and  I  slide  the  super  toward  me  enough 
so  that  I  can  push  the  follower  down  and  let  it  drop  out. 
I  then  push  the  super  back  on  the  board  and  lay  the  push- 
board  on  the  bottoms  of  the  sections.  Before  putting 
the  push-board  on  the  sections,  however,  I  remove  any 
bits  of  wax  that  may  be  on  the  bottoms  of  the  sections, 
otherwise  the  push-board  coming  down  hard  upon  them 
will  crush  the  comb  enough  to  make  the  sealing  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  sections  look  watery,  if  it  does  no 
greater  damage. 

As  the  super  now  lies,  the  sections  are  not  resting 
on  the  board  beneath,  there  being  J4  inch  space  there. 
I  push  the  push-board  down  till  the  sections  rest  on  the 
board  below. 

EXCEPTIOXALLY  TROUBLESOME  CASES. 

The  sections  may  fall  that  quarter  of  an  inch  with 
their  own  weight,  and  they  may  not  go  down  at  all  with- 
out urgent  coaxing.  If  the  honey  was  stored  with  a 
rush  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  there  will  be  very 
little  gluing,  and  the  sections  will  come  out  easily.  The 
later  in  the  season,  and  the  slower  the  storing,  the  more 
gluing,  and  the  more  trouble.  If  there  is  a  lot  of  glue, 
and  if  it  is  warm,  stringy-  and  sticky,  it  must  be  humored 
a  little.  It  can  hardly  be  jerked  loose  suddenly  any 
more  than  if  it  was  nailed ;  but  if  it  is  allowed  time 
enough  the  weight  of  the  sections  may  be  enough  to 
bring  them  down.  Of  course  a  little  insistence  will 
hasten  matters  to  some  extent,  but  it  seems  to  be  a  matter 


2V> 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMO^XT  THE  BEES 


of  principle  with  that  kind  of  glue  not  to  let  go  too  sud- 
denly. Sometimes  I  take  a  super  of  that  kind  and  place  it 
low  enough  to  sit  down  on  the  push-board,  and  then  let  it 
take  its  time.  \Mien  I  feel  it  give  way  under  me,  I  give 
up  my  seat,  unless  I  continue  matters  a  little  longer  by 
taking  hold  of  the  super  at  each  end  and  lifting  up  while 
still  sitting  on  the  push-board. 


W^HEN    THE  GLUE   IS   BRITTLE. 


Sometimes  the  glue  is  brittle,  especially  if  quite  cold. 
The  case  is  then  quite  different.  Sitting  on  it  all  day 
would  do  no  good,  unless  one  is  heavy  enough  to  bring 


W  ^            **  9h^I 

HfiM 

i 

'  ^J^^QII^'  '^H 

jJIJ^  mi 

f. 

Fig.  yo. — Bee  JJ^orkiug  on  Red  Clover. 


down  the  whole  thing  suddenly.  If  pushing  down  with 
the  hands  on  the  push-board  produces  no  effect.  I  pound 
with  the  fist  on  each  corner  enough  to  make  the  start. 
Then  lifting  on  the  super  at  each  end  with  the  fingers.  I 
push  the  sections  out  of  the  super  by  pushing  down  on 
the  push-board  with  the  thumbs  (Fig.  77). 

After  the  first  start  is  made,  perhaps  the  super  is  at 
once  lifted  off  without  any  trouble,  and  perhaps  further 
coaxing  is  needed,  and  the  super  must  be  treated  some- 
what as  one  treats  a  refractory  bureau-drawer.  I  lift  on 
each  end  alternately,  holding  down  the  push-board  with 
one  hand  and  lifting  with  the  other,  then  with  both  hands 
lift  off  the  super  (Fig.  7s  ). 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  213 

This  sounds  a  little  as  if  it  was  hard  work  getting 
sections  out  of  supers,  because  I  have  spent  so  much 
time  talking  about  the  troublesome  cases,  but  these  are 
the  exceptional  ones,  and  in  general  the  work  is  easy 
enough  to  be  done  rapidly. 

TAKING  OUT  UNFINISHED  SECTIONS. 

The  empty  super  being  set  down  and  the  push-board 
removed,  the  unfinished  sections  are  picked  off,  and  the 
super  is  put  back  on  the  sections  as  it  was  before.  Then 
the  super  and  the  board  under  it  are  reversed,  and  the 
board  lifted  off.  Finished  sections  from  another  super 
used  for  that  purpose,  are  put  in  to  take  the  places  of 
the  unfinished  sections  that  were  removed,  and  the  super 
with  its  24  finished  sections  is  put  on  the  pile. 

BLOCKING   UP   SUPERS    OF   SECTIONS. 

The  piles  of  finished  sections  are  20  supers  high,  the 
piles  being  about  6  inches  from  each  other  and  from 
the  wall.  Four  blocks  J^.  of  an  inch  thick  are  placed 
under  the  corners  of  the  first  super  in  the  pile,  and  four 
are  put  on  the  corners  of  each  super  before  the  next 
super  is  placed  over  it.  This  for  ventilation  (Fig.  79). 
The  sun  has  a  fair  chance  to  make  this  room  a  pretty 
warm  place,  and  screened  doors  and  windows  allow  free 
passage  for  the  air. 

FUMIGATING    SECTIONS. 

Y^ears  ago  it  was  very  important  to  fumigate  these 
sections,  or  else  a  good  many  of  the  larvae  of  the  bee- 
moth  would  disfigure  them.  The  trouble  gradually  faded 
away  until  for  several  years  I  have  done  no  fumigating 
whatever,  and  no  harm  has  come  from  the  omission. 
I  do  not  know  why  there  should  be  so  much  change 
except  a  change  in  the  character  of  the  bees  that  stored 
the  honey.  Y^ears  ago  black  blood  was  present  in  my 
bees   to   a   larger   extent   than   now.      The   weeding   out 


214  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

of  bees  too  lazy  to  fight  away  the  wax-moths  may  have 
much  to  do  with  it. 

"go-backs/' 

The  unfinished  sections  that  were  taken  out  are  to 
be  disposed  of.  They  are  filled  into  supers  and  returned 
to  the  bees  to  be  finished  up,  and  these  supers  of  sec- 
tions that  are  to  go  hack  to  the  bees  for  finishing  are 
called  "go-backs,"  for  short.  In  filling  up  these  supers 
of  "go-backs,"  no  very  great  care  is  taken  as  to  assorting 
them,  although  it  is  desirable  so  far  as  convenient  to  have 
all  in  the  same  super  at  nearly  the  same  stage  toward 
completion. 

ARRANGEMENT  OF  SECTIONS  IN  "gO-BACKS/' 

All  except  the  two  outside  rows.  In  these  two  rows 
are  put  the  sections  that  are  the  least  advanced,  the  four 
corner  sections  often  containing  only  foundation. 

There  are  two  objects  in  having  these  outside  rows 
dififerent  from  the  others.  The  bees  will  not  make  as 
rapid  work  finishing  them  as  the  others,  and  if  all  were 
alike  the  super  would  have  to  be  left  on  too  long  before 
all  would  be  finished.  So  there  is  no  expectation  of  their 
being  finished,  and  it  is  not  worth  while  to  put  in  the 
outside  row  any  that  are  near  completion.  There  is 
another  reason.  Toward  the  close  of  the  season,  espe- 
cially, there  will  be  no  other  supers  on  a  hive  that  has 
"go-backs,"  and  these  outside  rows  are  needed  to  give 
them  a  chance  to  do  some  storing  while  finishing  up  the 
sealing  of  sections  that  allow  little  or  no  room  for  stor- 
ing: 

COLONIES  FOR  "gO-BACK""  WORK. 

Being  more  convenient,  the  "go-backs"  are  all  given 
to  colonies  in  the  home  apiary.  When  the  first  are  given, 
the  honey  harvest  is  usually  still  in  full  blast,  and  a  good 
many  colonies  in  the  apiary  will  have  "go-backs,"  each 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  215 

colony  having  only  one,  that  being  placed  on  top  of  its 
other  supers.  We  keep  watch  to  see  which  colonies 
make  the  best  work  on  "go-backs."  Some  seal  faster 
than  others,  some  seal  sections  with  extra  whiteness.  In 
order  to  help  keep  track  of  the  rate  of  progress,  each 
"go-back,"  at  the  time  it  is  put  on.  has  marked  on  one  of 
the  middle  sections  the  word  "go-back"  and  the  date. 
If  the  super  were  not  thus  marked,  the  colony  would  get 
more  credit  than  it  deserved  when  the  super  was  re- 
moved. 

A  little  later  in  the  season  the  number  of  colonies 
chosen  for  this  work  is  limited,  only  those  which  do  the 
best  being  continued  at  it,  and  these  are  not  allowed  to 
have  any  other  supers.  Generally  two  supers  at  a  time 
will  be  enough  for  a  colony  to  have ;  but  sometimes  three 
will  be  given.  As  fast  as  one  super  is  ready  to  come  off 
another  takes  it  place. 

ROBBER-CLOTH.        ^ 

Before  fulfilling  my  promise  to  describe  the  tent- 
escape,  I  must  describe  a  robber-cloth  (Fig.  75),  which 
forms  an  essential  part  of  the  tent-escape.  I  take  a  piece 
of  stout  cotton  cloth  (sheeting)  or  burlap  large  enough  to 
cover  a  hive  and  hang  down  four  inches  or  more  at  both 
sides  and  at  each  end.  This  must  be  weighted  down  at  the 
side  with  lath,  and  for  this  purpose  I  take  four  pieces 
of  lath  about  as  long  as  the  hive.  I  lay  down  one  piece 
of  lath  with  another  piece  on  it,  and  one  edge  of  the 
cloth  between  the  two  pieces  of  lath.  I  then  nail  the  two 
together  and  clinch  the  nails.  I  use  the  other  two  pieces 
of  lath  for  the  opposite  edge  of  the  cloth.  This  makes 
a  good  robber-cloth  just  as  it  is,  but  it  is  better  to  have 
the  ends  also  weighted  down,  especially  on  a  windy  day. 
For  this  purpose  I  make  a  hem  in  each  end,  and  put  in  it 
shot,  nails,  pebbles,  or  something  of  the  kind,  stitching 
across  the  hem  here  and  there  so  the  weighting  material 
will  not  all  run  together  at  one  side  or  the  other. 


216  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

QUICK  COVERING  WITH   ROBBER-CLOTH.     ^ 

In  any  case  where  one  wants  to  cover  up  a  liive 
quickly  against  robbers,  as  when  opening  and  closing 
the  same  hive  frequently  for  the  sake  of  putting  in  or 
taking  out  combs,  this  robber-cloth  will  be  found  a  great 
convenience.      No   careful   adjustment   is   needed,   as    in 


Fig.  71. — Shop   (looking  South). 

putting  on  a  regular  hive-cover,  but  one  can  take  hold 
of  the  lath  with  one  hand,  and  with  a  single  throw  the 
hive  is  covered  securely,  with  no  kilHng  of  bees  if  any 
should  happen  to  be  in  the  way. 


MILLER  TENT-ESCAPE. 


Having  made  the  robber-cloth,  an  escape,  not  in  the 
shape  of  a  cone,  but  in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid,  is 
fastened  centrally  upon  it  (Fig.  73).  Take  three  tri- 
angular pieces  of  wire-cloth,  each  of  the  three  sides  meas- 
uring alike.     Put  them  together  in  the  form  of  a  tent, 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  217 

sewing  the  edges  together  at  the  three  sides  by  weaving 
fine  wire  through.  At  the  top,  however,  let  each  of  the 
pieces  be  folded  out,  so  that  a  hole  large  enough  to  push 
your  finger  in  will  be  left.  Lay  the  tent  centrally  on  the 
robber-cloth,  and  mark  where  the  three  corners  of  the 
tent  come.  Now  starting  at  each  of  these  points,  cut 
the  cloth  to  the  center.  Cut  away  the  three  flaps  of  cloth 
all  but  about  1^  inches,  and  turn  this  1^-inch  margin 
up  on  the  outside  of  the  tent  and  sew  there  with  heavy 
thread. 

Another  way  is  a  little  easier  to  do,  and  it  is  a  little 
better,  although  a  little  harder  to  describe.    Take  a  piece 


A 

/  \  / 

/     '^ 

\  ^ 

/ 

\ 

'  \  / 


\ 

\ 


\ 


V  V 


of  wire-cloth  2  1-3  times  as  long  as  it  is  wide.  ]\Iark 
a  point  at  the  middle  of  one  of  the  longer  sides,  and  on 
the  other  side  mark  a  point  half  way  from  each  end  to 
the  middle,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  Make  a  fold  at  each 
of  the  dotted  lines.  The  wire-cloth  may  be  cut  away 
at  the  two  outside  dotted  lines,  or,  what  is  better,  the  end 
pieces  may  be  folded  over  and  sewed  down.  Now  bring 
the  two  parts  of  the  upper  margin  together  and  sew  with 
wire,  and  then  proceed  to  fasten  the  tent  in  place  as  be- 
fore. In  this  latter  case,  of  course,  a  hole  must  be  cut 
at  the  top  of  the  tent.  Before  the  tent  is  sewed  together, 
cut  a  slit  about  an  inch  deep  in  the  two  dotted  lines  at  the 
top,  and  then  fold  out  the  three  points. 

When  one  of  these  tent-escapes  is  placed  on  a  pile 
of  supers,  or  on  a  hive  containing  bees,  the  bees  will  pass 


218  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

out  freely  at  the  top,  but  the  bees  that  try  to  get  in  at- 
tempt to  make  the  entrance  farther  down.  Once  in  a 
great  while  there  will  gather  a  bunch  of  the  outgoing 
bees  at  the  top  so  as  to  clog  the  exit,  and  then  the  rob- 
bers will  settle  on  this  bunch  of  bees  and  work  their  way 
in,  but  a  little  smoke  will  scatter  the  bunch  of  bees. 

But  bees  are  persevering  creatures,  and  are  not 
likely  to  stay  scattered.  In  that  case  it  is  a  good  thing  to 
put  two  escapes  over  the  pile,  a  larger  one  over  a  smaller 
one.  The  piece  of  wire  cloth  used  in  making  some  of 
mine  is  22x9^  inches,  and  in  others  it  is  14x6.  The 
smaller  ones  seem  to  work  just  as  well  as  the  larger,  and 
it  is  a  convenience  to  have  the  two  sizes  when  a  case  such 
as  I  have  mentioned  occurs.     But  it  does  not  often  occur. 

''once  a  thief"  not  "always  a  thief.'" 

For  many  years  I  believed  what  perhaps  is  generally 
believed,  that  the  saying,  "Once  a  thief,  always  a  thief," 
was  true  of  any  bee  ever  guilty  of  robbing.  There  is,  no 
doubt,  some  ground  for  such  belief,  for  a  bee  that  has 
spent  to-day  robbing  from  a  certain  hive  will  very  likely 
start  in  on  the  same  business  to-morrow,  if  any  more 
plunder  is  to  be  had  in  the  same  place  ;  but  it  is  not  true 
that  a  bee  that  has  been  engaged  in  one  robbing  scrape 
will  never  after  return  to  honest  labor. 

Indeed,  so  far  as  the  bee  is  concerned,  getting  honey 
out  of  another  hive  probably  seems  just  as  honest  work 
as  to  gather  nectar  from  the  flowers.  And  the  more 
active  a  bee  is  when  engaged  in  the  field,  the  more  active 
might  we  expect  to  find  it  in  trying  to  rob  when  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  had  in  the  field. 

Many  a  hive  is  robbed  out  in  spring,  and  many  a  bee 
is  engaged  in  the  robbing ;  yet  the  first  day  in  which  an 
abundance  of  stores  can  be  had  in  the  field,  every  bee 
of  sufficient  age  gleefully  joins  in  the  quest  abroad,  and 
the  fact  that  honey  may  be  exposed  with  little  danger 
shows  that  the  bees  that  were  formerly  so  intent  upon 
robbing  are  now  afield  with  the  others. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEE5 


219 


LEAVING    SOMETHING    FOR    ROBBERS. 

A  practice  that  is  jnst  as  far  from  right  as  the 
theory  about  which  we  have  been  talking  is  the  practice 
of  taking  away  whatever  the  robbers  are  working  upon, 
without  leaving  anything  in  its  place.  If  by  carelessness 
I  have  left  a  section  of  honey  on  a  hive,  and  find  the 
robbers  at  work  upon  it,  I  can  hardly  do  a  worse  thing 
than  to  take  it  away. 

If  I  leave  it,  the  bees  will  stick  to  it,  and  clean  it  out, 
and  for  some  time  a  number  of  robbers  will  stick  to  it 


Fig.  72. — y^o.  12  Closed  for  Hauling. 


after  the  honey  is  all  gone,  but  they  stick  to  that  one 
spot,  and  if  the  empty  comb  is  left  there,  they  keep  hunt- 
ing it  all  over  and  over,  and  by  and  by  conclude  the 
honey  is  all  used  out  of  it  and  go  about  their  business. 
If  the  section  is  taken  away  and  nothing  left  in  its  place, 
they  seem  to  think  they  have  made  a  mistake  as  to  the 
place  and  hunt  all  around  for  the  missing  section,  until 
they  force  their  way  into  the  nearest  conquerable  colony. 


220  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

If  a  weak  colony  is  attacked,  I  may  sometimes  take 
it  away,  but  if  I  do,  I  immediately  put  in  its  place  an 
empty  hive  in  which  I  put  some  scraps  of  comb  contain- 
ing a  little  honey.  They  will  rob  this  out  and  that  will 
he  the  end  of  it.  It  is  possible  that  dry  comb  without 
any  honey  might  answer. 

ROBBING,   FAULT  OF  BEE-KEEPER. 

Except  in  case  of  queenless  colonies,  I  am  somewhat 
of  the  opinion  that  most  cases  of  robbing  have  been 
through  my  own  carelessness.  When  there  is  nothing 
to  do  in  the  fields,  the  bees  may  be  seen  busily  trying  to 
enter  cracks  about  hives  so  small  that  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  their  entering,  and  they  are  sharp  to  observe 
any  change.  If,  at  such  times,  a  fresh  opening  be  left 
anyw^here  about  a  hive,  it  is  sure  to  be  discovered.  An 
entrance  at  the  top  of  brood-chamber,  at  the  back  end, 
may  be  left  open  all  the  season  without  being  disturbed  by 
robbers.  But  if  it  has  been  kept  closed  until  a  time  when 
robbers  are  troublesome,  and  then  opened,  whether  it  be 
that  the  robbers  are  stirred  up  by  seeing  the  change,  or 
whether  the  bees  of  the  colony  are  not  in  the  habit  of 
protecting  themselves  in  that  quarter,  the  robbers  are 
pretty  sure  to  give  the  new  entrance  especial  attention ; 
and  if  the  colony  be  not  very  strong  there  may  be  serious 
trouble. 

STARTING  ROBBING  BY  FEEDING. 

As  feeding  is  done  only  in  a  time  of  scarcity,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  common  causes  of  robbing  among  care- 
less bee-keepers.  When  general  feeding  is  done  with 
Miller  feeders,  there  is  little  danger,  no  matter  what  time 
of  day  the  work  is  done ;  but  if  some  weak  colony  is  short 
of  stores,  I  try  to  be  somewhat  careful  to  do  nothing 
to  attract  especial  attention  to  it.  I  have  sometimes  fed 
at  night,  and  so  far  as  convenient  prefer  to  feed  late  in 
the  day,  but  convenience  does  not  always  allow  it. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


221 


One  time  I  found  a  colony  at  the  close  of  the  honey 
harvest,  by  some  means  about  at  the  point  of  starvation. 
A\'ith  more  carelessness  than  was  excusable.  I  gave  them, 
I  think  in  the  forenoon,  two  or  three  combs  filled  with 
sugar  syrup.  Some  time  after,  I  happened  to  look  to- 
ward that  end  of  the  apiary  and  saw  what  looked  like  a 
swarm.  The  bees  had  become  excited  over  their  new- 
found stores  ;  the  robber-bees  had  joined  in  and  the  bees 


Fig-  73- — Miller  Tent-Escape. 

of  the  colony  seemed  to  think  forage  was  so  plentiful 
that  it  wasn't  worth  while  to  be  mean  about  it,  there  was 
enough  for  all ;  so  the  robbers  were  doing  a  land-office 
business  without  let  or  hindrance. 

STOPPING    ROBBIXG    WITH     WET    HAY. 


I  closed  the  entrances  of  the  other  hives  in  the  im- 
mediate neighborhood,  so  that  only  two  or  three  bees: 
could  pass  at  a  time,  and  then  threw  a  lot  of  loose,  wet 
hay  at  the  entrance  of  the  besieged  hive. 


222  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

Not  only  did  I  put  hay  at  the  entrance,  but  piled  it 
up  all  around  to  the  top  of  the  hive.  For  some  time  I 
kept  everything  very  wet  all  around  the  hive  by  pour- 
ing on  pails  of  water,  and  then  left  them  till  next  day. 

No  other  hives  were  attacked.  I  somewhat  ex- 
pected to  find  the  queen  killed,  but  she  was  all  right 
next  day,  and  no  further  trouble  occurred,  as  the  colony 
was  a  strong  one,  and  when  in  its  right  mind,  capable 
of  taking  care  of  itself. 

DO  ROBBED-BEES   JOIN   THE   ROBBERS? 

One  of  the  venerable  traditions  that  is  perhaps 
generally  accepted  without  question  is  that  when  a 
colony  is  being  robbed  it  is  a  quite  common  thing  for  the 
bees  that  are  robbed  to  join  the  robbers  and  help  carry 
ofif  the  stores.  T  am  very  skeptical  as  to  there  being  any 
truth  in  the  tradition.  I  do  not  say  such  a  thing  never 
happened,  but  I  never  saw  such  a  case,  and  I  have  seen 
from  first  to  last  quite  a  number  of  cases  of  robbing.  I 
have  known  a  number  of  cases  in  which  all  the  stores 
were  emptied  out  of  the  combs  by  robbers,  and  the  bees 
of  the  colony  seemed  to  be  all  left,  and  generally  by  tak- 
ing the  right  kind  of  pains  I  have  succeeded  in  re-estab- 
lishing such  a  colony.  In  such  cases  there  was  certainly 
no  joining  the  robbers. 

I  have  found  other  cases  in  which  the  bees  were  en- 
tirely gone,  and  I  could  only  guess  what  had  become  of 
them.  Aly  guess  was  that  after  being  robbed  of  all  their 
stores,  and  having  used  up  all  the  honey  in  their  honey- 
sacs,  perhaps  some  time  after  the  robbers  had  ceased  to 
pay  any  attention  to  them,  they  had  swarmed  out  as  any 
hunger-swarm  will  do,  and  had  united,  or  tried  to  unite, 
with  some  other  colony.  Would  they  not  be  likely  to 
join  some  colony  other  than  the  one  that  had  treated 
them  so  unkindly? 

PILES    SOMETIMES   A    TARGET    FOR    ROBBERS. 

Piles  of  four  or  five  stories  with  abundant  ventila- 
tion at  each  story  are  in  no  danger  from  robbers  under 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  223 

ordinary  circumstances  ;  but  if  you  ever  have  such  piles, 
and  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  get  the  robbers  once  started 
at  them,  you  "better  watch  out."  Even  if  there  should  be 
a  dearth  for  some  time,  robbers  are  not  likely  to  attack  a 
pile  ;  for  they  have  probably  got  into  the  habit  of  think- 
ing that  such  a  pile  is  not  to  be  meddled  with,  but  just 
you  do  something  to  call  particular  attention  to  the  pile, 


Fig-  74. — Wheeling  Load   of  Supers. 

such  as  letting  a  comb  of  honey  stand  by  it  exposed,  and 
there  are  so  many  exposed  places  to  defend  that  the  rob- 
bers are  likely  to  have  things  their  own  way. 

A   BAD   CASE   OF   ROBBING. 

One  time  George  W.  York  was  here  when  bees  were 
not  busily  at  work  in  the  fields,  and  I  opened  up  a  pile  of 
four  stories,  for  what  purpose  I  do  not  now  remember  ; 
very  likely  I  was  trying  to  show  ofif  in  some  way.  At 
any  rate  I  showed  him  a  fine  case  of  robbing,  for  the  rob- 
bers pounced  down  upon  every  exposed  point,  and  before 
I  had  noticed  what  was  going  on  they  were  having  a  gay 


224  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

time.  Of  course  I  couldn't  build  a  haystack  about  the 
four  stories,  but  I  had  to  do  something,  for  although  the 
colony  was  a  powerful  one  it  was  utterly  inadequate  to 
the  protection  of  four  exposed  stories,  and  without  any 
interference  on  my  part  its  doom  was  sealed.  I  closed 
all  entrances  except  the  lower  one,  and  then  applied  the 
hay  and  water  to  the  lower  story  successfully. 

PILES   IN    LATE   SUMMER. 

During  the  usual  working  season  there  is  need  of 
some  foolishness  on  the  part  of  the  bee-keeper  to  start 
robbing  at  a  pile  having  a  strong  colony,  but  after  the 
weather  becomes  quite  cool  toward  fall,  the  case  is  differ- 
ent. Of  course,  all  but  the  lower  entrance  should  be 
closed  before  cold  nights  come,  but  sometimes  there  is  a 
case  of  neglect.  In  a  cold  night  the  colony  shrinks  down 
into  the  lower  or  the  lower  two  stories — all  the  more 
because  there  is  a  current  of  air  right  through  the  hive 
— and  the  two  or  three  upper  stories  are  left  without  any 
bees. 

In  the  following  morning  they  do  not  go  up  again 
into  the  upper  stories  till  some  time  after  the  day  has 
warmed  up.  The  robbers,  however,  do  not  wait  so  long, 
but  finding  an  upper  entrance  unprotected  go  to  work  in 
lively  style. 

As  late  as  October  6,  in  the  year  1902,  a  pile  was 
left  with  an  upper  entrance  or  ventilating  space  still 
open,  and  on  the  forenoon  of  that  day  I  observed  lively 
work  at  that  place,  while  all  was  quiet  at  the  lower  or 
regular  entrance.  I  shoved  the  cover  back  so  as  to  close 
the  space,  and  then  took  a  snap-shot  of  the  bees  trying 
to  get  in,  as  shown  in  Fig.  81.  Only  two  stories  show 
in  the  picture,  although  the  pile  was  four  stories  high. 
Fortunately  no  other  place  was  open  except  the  regular 
lower  entrance,  and  it  was  so  far  from  top  to  bottom  that 
the  robbers  made  no  attempt  below — indeed  I  suppose 
they  would  have  been  promptly  repulsed  if  they  had — 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 


225 


so  after  trying  for  a  time  to  get  in  the  place  I  had  closed, 
they  gave  up  and  left  the  hive. 


PLAYING  BEES  AND  ROBBERS. 


I  think  I  can  tell  by  carefully  looking  at  bees  when 
flying  with  unusual  commotion  at  the  entrance  of  a  hive, 
whether  it  is  a  case  of  robbing  or  bees  at  play,  but  I  am 
not  sure  I  could  tell  some  one  else  the  difference  in  ap- 


Pk-  75.— Robber-Cloth. 


pearance.  Looking  at  bees  at  play  in  Fig.  82,  and  com- 
paring with  Fig.  81,  there  appears  little  difference.  In 
actual  life  there  will  be  seen  the  same  excited  eagerness 
in  each  case. 

The  time  of  day  helps  to  decide.  During  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day,  say  from  noon  till  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon, playing  is  common  ;  earlier  or  later  than  that  time, 
if  there  is  big  excitement  at  the  entrance  of  a  weak  col- 
ony, the  likelihood  is  that  robbing  is  going  on. 


226  FIFTY  YEARS    AMCXG  THE  BEES 

SIGNS    OF    ROBBING. 

One  pretty  sure  sign  of  robbing,  when  there  is  a 
good  deal  of  stir  at  the  entrance,  is  to  see  bees  working 
frantically  to  force  an  entrance  under  the  cover  or  at 
some  other  part  of  the  hive.  Just  why  they  should  do 
this  at  times  when  they  seem  to  have  plenty  of  chance 
to  get  in  at  the  regular  entrance  I  do  not  know — it  seems 
to  be  a  way  they  have. 

A  sure  sign  of  robbing  is  to  find  the  1  ees  entering 
the  hive  with  empty  sacs  and  coming  out  with  their  sacs 
full.  The  contents  of  the  sac  can  be  told  by  killing  the 
bee,  pulling  it  in  two,  and  squeezing  out  the  contents  of 
the  sac.     Indeed,  the  squeezing  is  hardly  needed. 

BEES  STICK  TO  THE  SAME  ENTRANCE. 

A  glance  at  the  hive  shown  in  Fig.  81  would  show 
that  it  is  a  case  of  robbing,  for  the  flying  is  at  an  opening 
never  used  for  an  entrance.  It  is  a  somewhat  curious 
fact  that  bees  are  very  persistent  in  continuing  to  use 
the  same  place  for  an  entrance. 

After  the  bees  have  become  used  to  going  in  and 
out  at  the  regular  place,  if  I  make  an  opening  at  the 
back  end  of  the  hive,  no  matter  if  it  be  as  large  as  the 
front  entrance,  that  back  opening  will  never  be  used  as 
an  entrance.  One  would  think  that  young  bees  taking 
their  first  play-spell  would  be  as  likely  to  use  the  back 
as  the  front  opening,  but  when  I  have  had  ventilating 
openings  at  the  backs  of  the  hives  I  do  not  remember 
to  have  seen  bees  playing  at  the  back.  Perhaps  the  noise 
of  the  regular  traffic  in  front  attracts  them  there. 

LOSING    THE    ROBBERS. 

I  make  it  a  rule  to  stop  operations  usually  when  rob- 
bers are  very  bad,  but  sometimes  it  seems  necessary  to 
fight  it  out.  I  have  sometimes  taken  advantage  of  the 
plan  of  making  cross  bees  or  robbers  lose  themselves,  or 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


227 


rather  lose  the  object  they  are  after  by  rapidly  changing 
the  base  of  operation,  (jne  day  at  the  \\'ilson  apiary  I 
had  taken  off  some  wide  frames  of  sections  and  wanted 
to  take  them  from  the  place  where  they  were  piled  up,  so 
as  to  put  them  on  the  wagon.  The  robbers  were  so 
fierce  and  persistent  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  open  a 
crack  without  their  immediately  forcing  their  way  in. 
My  wife  was  provided  with  a  smoker  in  full  blast,  and  a 


Fig.   76. — Push-Board. 


big  bunch  of  goldenrod  or  other  weeds.  A  robber-cloth 
covered  the  pile.  With  one  hand  I  lifted  the  cloth  and 
with  the  other  took  out  a  frame  of  sections,  then  quickly 
dropped  the  robber-cloth  in  its  place,  my  wife  keeping  a 
cloud  of  smoke  in  the  way  of  any  robbers  which  should 
attempt  to  enter  the  pile  while  the  cloth  was  raised.  In- 
stantly the  frame  was  ort  of  the  super,  the  robbers  made 
for  the  frame  of  sections.  I  made  for  the  wagon  and 
my  wife  made  for  me.     Running  in  a  zig-zag.  circuitous 


228  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

course,  my  wife  followed  me,  puffing  and  switching  at 
every  step,  and  by  the  time  we  got  to  the  wagon  the  rob- 
bers were  lost,  the  frame  was  slipped  quickly  into  the 
super  on  the  wagon,  and  the  robber-cloth  dropped  over 
it.  The  Scotch  folks  at  the  house  had  a  good  laugh  over 
the  crazy  couple  chasing  one  another  through  the 
orchard,  but  we  beat  the  bees.  Under  ordinary  circum- 
stances it  would  be  better  to  take  an  easier  plan  or  wait 
till   dark. 

PROTECTION  FROM  STINGS. 

I  have  been  a  bee-keeper  since  1861,  and  since  1878 
I  have  made  the  production  of  honey  my  sole  business, 
aside  from  writing  about  bees,  and  yet  I  have  not  reached 
that  point  where  I  care  nothing  for  protection  from 
stings.  When  I  first  commenced  keeping  bees,  a  sting  on 
my  hand  was  a  serious  affair,  swelling  to  the  shoulder, 
and  troubling  fully  as  much  the  second  day  as  the  first. 
Now,  if  I  receive  a  half-dozen  stings  or  more,  I  cannot 
tell  an  hour  or  two  later  where  I  was  stung,  except  as  a 
matter  of  memory.  Y^et  I  think  that  a  sting  gives  me 
fully  as  much  pain  for  the  first  minute  now,  as  it  did  fifty 
years  ago.  Sometimes  the  pain  is  so  severe  that  it  liter- 
ally makes  me  groan,  especially  if  no  one  is  within  hear- 
ing. I  sometimes  wonder  at  those  who  scout  at  any  sort 
of  protection,  and  query  whether  there  may  not  be  just 
a  little  of  a  spirit  of  bravado  about  it.  I  think  I  could  go 
through  a  year  without  any  sort  of  prqitection,  but  I  do 
not  think  I  ever  shall.  A  bee  inside  my  clothing  makes  me 
very  nervous,  and  I  cannot  go  on  in  comfort  at  my  work 
with  a  .feeling  of  uncertainty  as  to  where  and  when  its 
little  javelin  shall  pierce  my  flesh.  If  I  feel  it  c^ait^ing  on 
me,  and  then  cease  to  feel  it  because  it  is  on  the  clothing 
and  not  on  the  skin,  I  am  in  momentary  drekd  as  to 
where  it  shall  turn  up  next ;  and  it  is  a  real  relief  when 
it  stings  me,  for  I  know  then  the  precise  spot  where  it  is, 
and  have  no  further  expectations  from  it. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AAIONG  THE  BEES  229 

BEE-VEIL. 

So  I  seldom  go  among  the  bees  without  a  veil.  I 
may  not  have  it  over  my  face,  but  it  is  on  the  hat,  ready 
to  be  pulled  down  at  any  time.  The  veil  is  made  of  in- 
expensive material,  called  by  milliners  cape-lace  or  cape- 
net.  It  is  21  inches  wide.  A  piece  is  cut  off  as  long  as 
the  circumference  of  the  brim  of  a  straw  hat,  and  both 
ends  sewed  together.  Shirr  a  rubber  cord  in  one  end  of 
this  open  bag,  thoroughly  soak  or  wash  out  the  starch, 
and  sew  the  other  end  on  the  edge  of  the  hat-brim.  It 
is  important  for  the  eye-sight  that  the  stuff  of  the  veil  be 
black,  but  the  black  coloring  crocks  one's  clothing.  So 
of  late  years  a  border  of  white  cloth  is  sewed  on  the  veil 
to  receive  the  rubber  cord. 

The  rubber  cord  holds  the  veil  close  about  one's 
neck,  yet  not  close  enough  but  what  a  bee  sometimes  gets 
under  it.  Although  a  bee  is  not  at  all  likely  to  sting 
when  it  gets  inside  a  veil,  it  is  just  as  well  to  have  it  re- 
main outside.  So  my  assistant  devised  the  plan  of  draw- 
ing the  veil  down  very  tightly  in  front,  and  pinning  it  to 
her  waist  with  a  safety-pin.  Seeing  it  work  so  well  with 
her,  I  have  also  adopted  the  plan,  pinning  to  my  suspen- 
ders on  one  side,  or  to  my  vest  if  I  have  one  on. 

Sometimes  a  face-piece  of  silk  net  is  sewed  in  the 
veil.  Instead  of  having  the  veil  sewed  to  my  hat,  so  that 
the  bee-hat  must  be  taken  along  when  we  go  to  an  out- 
apiary,  I  sometimes  have  in  my  pocket  a  veil  made  with 
a  rubber  cord  shirred  into  each  end,  and  when  I  reach 
the  apiary  the  veil  is  slipped  on  over  the  hat  I  am  wear- 
ing- 

The  openings  at  the  wrist  and  neck  of  my  shirt  are 
small,  ih?  cloth  lapping  over  so  as  to  give  a  bee  little 
chance  f vr  entrance.  If  bees  are  likely  to  be  on  the 
ground  I  put  my  pants  inside  my  stockings,  or  still  better, 
put  on  a  pair  of  trouser  guards  such  as  bicyclists  wear.  I 
get  a  great  many  stings  on  my  hands,  but  the  inconveni- 
ence and  discomfort  of  gloves  are  so  great  that  for  many 


230  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

years  I  felt  the  stings  to  be  the  less  of  the  two  evils.  But 
after  working  for  years  to  get  bees  that  would  give  the 
most  honey,  without  paying  any  attention  to  the  temper 
of  the  bees,  I  finally  had  bees  so  cross  that  in  spite  of 
the  inconvenience  I  felt  obliged  to  use  gloves. 

My  assistant  prefers  to  wear  gloves,  not  only  to 
avoid  the  stings,  but  to  avoid  the  bee-glue.  I  may  say 
in  passing  that  I  am  not  always  very  particular  about 
getting  the  bee-glue  off  my  hands,  but  when  I  do  clean 
them  I  usually  give  the  bee-glue  a  good  rubbing  with 
butter  or  grease,  and  then  wash  off  with  soap  and  water. 
I  confess  I  don't  very  much  mind  having  bee-glue  on 
my  hands  unless  there  is  so  much  of  it  that  it  sticks  to 
the  bed-clothes  at  night.  But  I  do  abhor  the  sticky  feel- 
ing of  honey  on  my  hands,  and  when  they  get  daubed,  if 
I  have  no  water  I  pick  up  some  soil  to  rub  them  with. 
That  at  least  takes  away  the  sticky  feeling.  Perhaps 
you  think  the  soil  is  worse  than  the  honey.     I  don't. 

BEE-GLOVES. 

For  some  time  Miss  Wilson  wore  a  kind  of  cheap 
white  glove  that  I  think  was  made  of  pig-skin.  She 
dislikes  the  smell  of  oiled  canvas  gloves,  although  to  me 
the  smell  is  not  very  bad,  and  the  smell  of  the  pig-skin 
is  horrid.  Latterly  she  wears  light  buckskin,  which  are 
free  from  smell,  and  wash  well,  or  else  a  pair  of  kid 
gloves  with  a  pair  of  10-cent  pickle  gloves  over  them. 
The  latter  are  rather  bungling. 

GETTING    OUT    STINGS. 

T  like  to  get  a  sting  out  of  my  skin  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, rf  not  too  busy.  A  little  trick  in  this  direction  is, 
I  think,  not  known  to  all  bee-keepers.  I  am  not  sure 
whether  I  learned  it  by  instinct,  or  from  the  writings  of 
G.  M.  Doolittle.  If  a  bee  stings  my  hand,  I  instantly 
strike  the  hand  with  much  force  upon  my  leg,  with  a 
sort  of  quick,  wiping  motion.  This  mashes  the  bee, 
generally,  and  rubs  out  the  sting  at  the  same  time. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


231 


SCOLDIXG    BEES. 


If  one  thinks  of  the  thousands  or  millions  of  bees  in 
a  large  apiary,  it  will  be  seen  that  comparatively  few 
bees  make  any  attack.  Sometimes  a  single  bee'  will 
threaten  and  scold  me  by  the  hour,  perhaps  finally  sting- 


Fig. 


-Pushing  Sections  out  oj  Super. 


ing  me  by  getting  into  my  hair  or  whiskers,  and  for 
aught  I  know  the  same  bee  may  keep  rp  the  same  thing 
for  days — I  mean  the  scolding,  not  the  stinging.  It  is 
sometimes  worth  while  to  get  rid  of  the  annoyance  by 
stepping  to  one  side  and  kncckins:  it  down  with  a  stick 
by  a  few  rapid  strokes  back  and  forth  in  front  of  my 
face.     I  often  mash  it  by  slapping  my  hands  together. 


232  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

CROSS    COLONIES. 

Sometimes  the  bees  have  seemed  very  cross,  and  a 
little  observation  has  shown  these  bees  to  proceed  from 
a  particular  part  of  the  apiary,  and  really  from  only  one 
hive.  A  careless  observer  might  have  said  all  the  bees  in 
the  apiary  were  cross.  I  have  had  a  few  colonies  so  cross 
that  merely  walking  by  the  hive  was  the  signal  for  a  gen- 
eral onslaught.  Truth  obliges  me  to  say  that  I  have 
sometimes  been  so  bady  stung  by  one  of  these,  w^hen 
working  at  them,  that  I  have  taken  refuge  in  inglorious 
flight,  glad  to  get  a  respite  and  scrape  out  the  stings. 
Just  why  there  should  be  one  or  two  of  these  in  a  year 
in  such  marked  contrast  with  others  I  cannot  say.  The 
only  remedy  I  had  was  to  kill  the  queen. 

DRESS    FOR   THE    HOTTEST    WEATHER. 

During  the  principal  part  of  the  honey-flow,  a  prom- 
inent element  of  hardship  is  the  endurance  of  the  heat. 
Sometimes  the  heat  really  has  made  me  sick,  so  that  in 
spite  of  a  press  of  work,  I  have  been  obliged  to  give  up 
and  lie  down  for  an  hour  or  more.  At  such  times  you 
may  be  sure  I  am  not  very  warmly  clad.  One  straw  hat 
and  veil,  one  cotton  shirt,  one  pair  cotton  overalls,  one 
pair  cotton  socks  and  one  pair  shoes,  comprise  my  entire 
wearing  apparel  (Fig.  83).  Before  noon,  shirt  and 
pants  are  both  thoroughly  wet  wath  perspiration. 

SPONGE-BATH    AT    NOON. 

In  this  heated  condition,  I  sponge  myself  ofif  with 
cold  water  before  dinner,  put  on  dry  pants  and  shirt,  and 
hang  up  the  wet  ones  in  the  sun  to  be  put  on  next  day. 
I  am  sure  that  by  this  refreshing  change,  I  am  able  to  do 
more  work.  It  might  be  thought  that  applying  cold 
water  all  over  the  body  when  every  part  is  dripping  with 
perspiration  might  make  me  take  cold.  I  have  never 
found  it  SO',  even  if  followed  up  every  day.     The  body  is 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


133 


SO  thoroughly  heated  that  it  easily  resists  the  shock,  and 
a  brisk  rubbing  leaves  one  in  a  fine  glow. 

My  overalls  are  white,  such  as  painters  or  masons 
use.  I  do  not  enjoy  being  so  conspicuous  when  I  hap- 
pen to  be  on  the  streets  clad  in  white ;  but  I  would  rather 


Fig.  /8. — Lifting  off  the  Super 


be  conspicuous  than  to  be  stung ;  and  I  feel  sure  that  I 
do  not  get  so  man}-  stings  as  I  would  with  darker  cloth- 
ing. 

woman's  bee-dress. 

My  assistant  is  not  dressed  so  coolly  as  I.     Her  de- 
sire to  keep  her  dress  clean  makes  her  warmer  than  she 


234  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

otherwise  wonld  be,  for  she  wears  an  apron  that  covers 
all  the  dress  except  the  sleeves  (Fig.  84).  This  apron  is 
made  of  denim,  and  has  two  large  pockets.  It  is  made 
after  pattern  No.  3,696  of  the  Butterick  Publishing  Co. 
To  cover  the  sleeves  of  her  dress,  she  uses  a  pair  of  white 
sleeves  fastened  together  by  a  strap  sewed  to  each  sleeve 
across  the  back,  a  similar  strap  in  front  being  sewed  to 
one  sleeve  and  buttoned  to  the  other.  The  wrists  of 
these  sleeves  are  sewed  to  the  wrists  of  her  gloves,  and 
ripped  off  whenever  it  is  necessary  to  wash  either  gloves 
or  sleeves.     For  convenience,  several  pairs  are  kept. 

QUEEN-REARING BREEDING     FRO:\I     BEST. 

My  sole  business  with  bees  being  to  produce  honey, 
I  am  not  particubr  to  keep  a  popular  breed  of  bees,  only 
so  far  as  their  popularity  comes  from  their  profitableness 
as  honey-gatherers.  I  am  anxious  to  have  those  that  are 
industrious,  good  winterers,  gentle,  and  not  given  to 
much  swarming.  For  some  years  I  got  an  imported 
Italian  queen  every  year  or  two.  Then  for  a  good  many 
years  I  preferred  to  rear  from  queens  of  my  own  whose 
workers  had  distinguished  themselves  as  being  the  most 
desirable.  The  chief  thing  considered  was  the  amount 
of  honey  stored.  Little  or  no  attention  was  paid  to 
color,  and  unfortunately  no  more  to  temper.  So  I  had 
bees  that  were  hybrids,  hustlers  to  store,  but  anything 
but  angels  in  temper.  Then,  beginning  with  1906,  I  in- 
troduced quite  a  number  of  Italian  queens,  in  the  hope 
that  among  them  I  might  find  one  as  good  as  my  hybrid 
stock,  without  so  much  ill  temper.  The  hope  was  not 
realized,  but  continued  effort  may  bring  success. 

IMPORTANCE    OF    SELECTION. 

The  queen  being  the  very  soul  of  the  colony,  I  hardly 
consider  any  pains  too  great  that  will  give  better  queens. 
The  first  thing  is  to  select  the  queen  from  which  to  rear, 
for  generally  all  rearing  will  be  from  the  same  queen, 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 


235 


whether  for  the  home  apiary  or  an  outside  apiary.  The 
records  are  carefully  scanned,  and  that  queen  chosen 
which,  all  things  considered,  appears  to  be  the  best.  The 
first  point  to  be  weighed  is  the  amount  of  honey  that  has 
been  stored.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  queen  whose 
workers  have  shown  themselves  the  best  storers  will  have 
the    preference.      The    matter    of    wintering   will    pretty 


Pig-  79- — Supers  of  Sections  Blocked  Up. 

much  take  care  of  itself,  for  a  colony  that  has  wintered 
poorly  is  not  likely  to  do  very  heavy  work  in  the  harvest. 
The  more  a  colony  has  done  in  the  way  of  making  prep- 
arations for  swarming,  the  lower  will  be  its  standing. 
Generally,  however,  a  colony  that  gives  the  largest  num- 
ber of  sections  is  one  that  never  dreamed  of  swarming. 

BREEDIXC,    FROM    BEST. 


I  am  well  aware  that  I  will  be  told  by  some  that  I  am 
choosing  freak  queens  from  which  to  rear,  and  that  it 
would  be  much  better  to  select  a  queen  whose  royal 
daughters  showed  uniform  results  only  a  little  above  the 


536  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

average.  I  don't  know  enough  to  know  whether  that  is 
true  or  not,  but  I  know  that  some  excellent  results  have 
been  obtained  by  breeders  of  other  animals  by  breeding 
from  sires  or  dams  so  exceptional  in  character  that  they 
might  be  called  freaks.  I  know,  too,  that  it  is  easier  to 
decide  which  colony  does  best  work  than  it  is  to  decide 
which  queen  produces  royal  progeny  the  most  nearly  uni- 
form in  character.  By  the  first  way,  too,  a  queen  can  be 
used  a  year  sooner  than  by  the  second  way,  and  a  year 
in  the  life  of  a  queen  is  a  good  deal.  I  may  mention  that 
a  queen  which  has  a  fine  record  for  two  successive  sea- 
sons is  preferred  to  one  with  the  same  kind  of  a  record 
for  only  one  season.  At  any  rate,  the  results  obtained  in 
the  way  of  improvement  of  stock  as  a  result  of  my  prac- 
tice have  been  such  as  to  warrant  me  in  its  continuance, 
at  least  for  a  time. 

The  danger  from  inbreeding  must  not  be  lost  sight 
of  entirely.  With  two  or  three  hundred  colonies  kept  in 
three  different  apiaries  it  is  perhaps  not  great.  Should 
signs  of  degeneracy  at  any  time  appear,  it  will  not  be 
dif^cult  to  introduce   fresh  blood. 

CONDITIONS    FOR    QUEEN-REARING. 

Having  chosen  the  queen  from  which  to  rear,  I  have 
Icept  in  mind  that  unless  conditions  are  favorable  the 
royal  progeny  of  the  best  queen  in  the  world  may  be  very 
poor.  Queen-cells  must  be  started  when  the  weather  is 
sufficiently  warm,  when  bees  are  gathering  enough  to 
make  them  feel  that  there  is  no  need  to  stint  the  royal 
larv?e  in  their  rations,  and  until  near  the  point  of 
emergence  it  is  much  better  that  the  cells  shall  be  in  the 
<:are  of_a  strong  colony.  So  I  do  not  begin  operations 
for  queen-rearing  until  about  the  time  that  bees  inclined 
to  swarming  would  begin  to  make  preparations  therefor. 

REARING    QUEENS    IN    HIVE    WITH     LAYING     QUEEN. 

It  would  be  too  long  a  story  to  enumerate  all  the 
plans  I  have  used  in  queen-rearing.     I  have  reared  ex- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  237 

cellent  qr.eens,  and  many  of  them,  by  the  Alley  plan,  and 
by  the  Doolittle  cell-cup  plan,  together  with  its  modifica- 
tions by  Pridgen  and  others.  I  think  I  was  the  first  one 
to  report  rearing  a  queen  in  a  colony  having  a  layings 
queen  ;  and  I  have  reared  them  in  stories  under  as  well  as 
over  the  story  having  the  laying  queen.  Neither  is  it  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  have  a  queen-excluder  between  the 
stories.     In  lieu  of  an  excluder  I  have  used  a  cloth  with 


Fig.  80. — Cleafed  Smoker. 

room  for  passage  at  the  corners.  Neither  excluder  nor 
cloth  is  absolutely  necessary:  distance  is  enough.  That 
first   reported  case   was  on  this  wise : 

Upon  a  hive  containing  a  colony  had  been  piled  four 
stories  of  empty  combs  for  safe  keeping.  To  make  sure 
that  the  bees  would  not  neglect  the  care  of  the  most  dis- 
tant combs,  I  put  a 'frame  of  brood  in  the  upper  story. 
A  few  weeks  later  I  found  a  laying  queen  in  the  upper 


23S  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEE3 

story  with  the  old  queen  still  below.  The  bees  that  had 
gone  up  to  that  frame  of  brood  were  so  far  from  the 
queen  that  they  had  reared  a  queen  of  their  own.  A 
hole  in  the  upper  story  had  allowed  the  flight  of  the 
young  queen  without  invading  the  domains  of  her 
mother.  For  those  who  produce  extracted  honey  this 
plan  might  be  used  to  advantage. 

UNOUEENIXG  COLONY  TO  START  CELLS. 

I  have  reared  good  queens  by  the  old  and  simple 
plan  of  taking  away  the  queen  of  a  strong  colony.  Of 
course  this  must  be  a  choice  queen.  Previous  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  queen  the  colony  is  strengthened.  Frames 
of  well-advanced  brood  are  from  time  to  time  given  from 
other  colonies  until  it  has  two — perhaps  three — stories 
of  brood.  None  of  this  brood,  however,  is  given  less 
than  five  or  six  days  before  the  removal  of  the  queen. 
The  queen  is  taken  with  two  frames  of  brood  and  ad- 
hering bees  and  put  on  a  new  stand  in  an  empty  hive,  an 
empty  comb  and  one  with  some  honey  being  added. 

TIME   TO   START    XL'CLEL 

In  nine  or  ten  days  from  the  removal  of  the  queen 
it  is  time  to  break  up  the  queenless  colony  into  nuclei. 
It  might  generally  be  left  till  a  day  or  two  Fter  before  a 
young  queen  would  come  out  to  destroy  her  baby  sisters 
in  their  cradles,  but  it  is  best  to  take  no  chances.  If  it 
were  true,  as  formerly  believed,  that  queenless  bees  are 
in  such  haste  to  rear  a  queen  that  they  will  select  a 
larva  too  old  for  the  purpose,  then  it  would  hardly  do  to 
wait  even  nine  days.  A  queen  is  matured  in  fifteen  days 
from  the  time  the  eg^  is  laid,  and  is  fed  throughout  her 
larval  lifetime  on  the  same  food  that  is  given  to  a 
worker-larva  during  the  first  three  days  of  its  larval  ex- 
istence. So  a  worker-larva  more  than  three  days  old,  or 
more  than  six  days  from  the  laying  of  the  egg  would  be 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


239 


too  old  for  a  good  queen.  If,  now,  the  bees  should 
select  a  larva  more  than  three  days  old,  the  queen  would 
emerge  in  less  than  nine  days.  I  think  no  one  has  ever 
known  this  to  occur. 


y 


Fig.  8i. — Robber  Bees. 


BEES  DO  NOT  PREFER  TOO  OLD  LARV.E. 


As  a  matter  of  fact  bees  do  not  use  such  poor  judg- 
ment as  to  select  larvae  too  old  when  larvae  sufficiently 
young  are  present,  as  I  have  proven  by  direct  experi- 
ment and  many  observations.  It  will  not  do,  however, 
to  conclude  from  this  that  all  queen-cells  started  by  a 
queenless  colony  left  to  themselves  will  be  equally  good. 


240  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

Bees  have  a  fashion  of  starting  cells  for  a  number  of 
days  in  succession,  and  will  continue  to  start  them  when 
larvae  sufficiently  young  for  good  queens  are  no  longer 
present.  So  some  means  must  be  taken  to  make  sure 
that  no  nucleus  has  for  its  sole  dependence  one  of  these 
latest  cells.  If  several  cells  can  be  afforded  for  each 
nucleus,  there  is  little  danger  they  will  all  be  bad. 
Neither  is  there  great  danger  if  a  cell  is  chosen  which  is 
large  and  fine-looking.  Perhaps  the  safer  way  is  to 
give  the  queenless  colony  a  frame  with  eggs  and  young 
brood  three  or  four  days  after  the  removal  of  the  queen, 
and  then  they  will  not  be  obliged  to  use  the  older  larvae 
of  the  other  combs. 

PLACING    QUEEN-CELLS. 

Two  or  three  frames  of  brood  with  adhering  bees 
are  taken  for  each  nucleus.  If  one  of  the  frames  has  a 
cell  or  several  cells  in  a  good  location,  well  and  good. 
If  not,  the  lack  must  be  supplied.  But  the  cells  must  be 
where  they  will  be  sure  to  be  well  cared  for.  They  must 
not  be  on  the  outer  edge  of  a  comb,  with  the  chance  to  be 
chilled,  neither  must  they  be  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
comb,  but  on  the  side  of  the  comb  that  faces  the  other 
comb.  Any  cells  that  are  not  just  wdiere  they  are 
wanted  must  be  cut  out.  For  this  purpose  I  like  a  tea- 
knife  with  a  very  thin  and  narrow  blade  of  steel. 

STAPLING  CELLS  ON  COMB. 

A  staple,  such  as  is  used  to  fasten  a  bottom-board  to 
a  hive,  is  used  to  fasten  a  cell  in  place.  The  cell  is  placed 
where  it  is  wanted,  then  the  staple  is  placed  over  it,  one 
leg  of  the  staple  close  to  the  cell,  and  the  other  leg  is 
pushed  deep  into  the  comb  (Fig.  85). 

MAKING  BEES  STAY  IN  NUCLEI. 

Each  nucleus  is  put  upon  a  stand  of  its  own,  and 
the  entrance  is  plugged  up  with  leaves  so  that  no  bee 


FIFTY  YEARS    A:^I0XG  THE  BEES 


241 


can  get  out.  (3ne  of  the  nuclei,  however,  is  left  without 
having  its  entrance  closed,  and  this  is  put  in  the  place  of 
the  hive  wliich  contains  the  queen,  and  the  hive  with  the 
queen  is  put  back  on  the  old  stand  from  which  the  queen 
was  first  taken.  The  entrances  may  be  left  closed  until 
the  shrinking  of  the  leaves  allows  the  bees  to  make  their 
way  out,  but  I  generall}'  open  them  in  about  twenty- 
four  hours,  first  pounding  on  the  hive  to  make  the  bees 


lug.  82. — Bees  Playing. 


Although    queen- 


mark   their   location    upon 

less  bees  are  much  better  than  other 

they  are  put,  there  will  be  still  fewer  bees  return  to  the 

old  place  if  the  nucleus  is  fastened  in  twentv-four  hours 


at  staying  wherever 


or  longer. 


LOOKIXG  FOR   EGGS. 


Twelve  or  fourteen  days  after  forming  the  nuclei  I 
look  to  see  if  the  queens  are  laying.  I  might  find  eggs 
in  less  time,  but  not  always,  and  at  any  rate  not  in  con- 


242  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

siderable  number,  and  it  saves  time  on  the  whole  !:ot  to 
be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  If  no  eggs  are  found  a  coml^ 
of  young  brood  is  given  as  an  encouragement  to  start 
the  young  queen  to  laying,  and  a  day  or  two  later,  if 
queen-cells  are  started  on  this  young  brood,  a  mature 
queen-cell   is  given, 

KEEPING  BEST   QUEEN   IN     NUCLEUS. 

Instead  of  having  my  best  queen  in  a  strong  colony, 
as  in  the  plan  just  given,  she  is  usually  kept  in  a  two- 
frame  nucleus  throughout  the  summer,  the  nucleus  being 
strengthened  into  a  full  colony  in  the  fall  for  wintering. 
One  object  of  this  is  to  make  the  queen  live  longer.  It 
is  generally  understood  that  a  worker  lives  a  longer  time 
if  it  has  little  work  to  do,  and  probably  the  same  is  true 
of  a  queen.  As  laying  eggs  is  her  w^ork,  the  less  the  num- 
ber of  eggs  she  lays  the  longer  she  ought  to  live,  and  i'l 
a  nucleus  she  lays  a  smaller  number  of  eggs  than  in  a 
strong   colony. 

There  is  another  reason  for  keeping  her  in  a  nucleus. 
Some  who  have  tried  to  have  comb  built  in  the  colony 
containing  their  best  queen  complain  that  they  can  get 
only  drone-comb  built.  That  may  be  avoided  by  filling 
the  frame  with  w^orker-foundation,  but  the  better  Avay  is 
to  keep  the  colony  with  the  queen  so  weak  that  only 
worker-comb  will  be  built.  In  a  nucleus  only  worker- 
comb  wall  be  built. 

STARTING  BROOD  FOR  CELLS 

Having  my  breeding  queen  in  a  two-frame  nucleus, 
I  take  away  one  of  the  combs,  and  in  its  place  put  a 
frame  in  which  are  two  small  starters  four  or  five  inches 
long  and  an  inch  or  two  wide.  One  of  these  starters  is 
prt  about  four  inches  from  each  end  (Fig.  86).  The 
nucleus  must  be  strong  enough  in  bees  so  that  a  week 
later  this  frame  wall  have  a  comb  built  in  it  that  will  fill 
most  of  the  frame,  the  comb  being  fairly  well  filled  wdth 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  TFIE  BEES 


243 


eggs  and  young  brood  (  F'ig.  cS8).  It  is  taken  away,  and 
another  frame  with  two  small  starters  put  in  its  place  as 
before.  Thus  this  nucleus  will  furnish  once  a  week  a 
frame  of  comb  with  brood  of  the  best  sort  for  queen- 
rearing.     It  will  be  a  dav  or  so  after  the  frame  is  g^iven 


Pig-  ^3- — Bee-Dress. 


before  the  queen  lays  in  it,  so  that  the  brood  will  not  be 
too  old  even  if  the  bees  were  so  foolish  as  to  prefer  it. 

The  comb  being  new^  and  tender  makes  it  probably 
an  easier  job  for  the  bees  to  build  queen-cells  upon  it ; 
at  any  rate  they  ahvays  show  a  preference  for  such 
comb,  and  start  on  it  a  larger  number  of  cells  than  they 
would   on   older   comb. 


244  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

BEES  FOR   CELL-BUILDIXG. 

Having  now  arranged  for  the  right  kind  of  brood 
and  eggs  to  be  ready  on  the  same  day  of  each  week,  the 
next  thing  is  to  find  the  right  kind  of  bees  to  start  the 
cells.  Xot  only  to  start  them,  but  to  take  the  very  best 
care  of  them.  We  can  probably  find  no  bees  better  fitted 
to  produce  good  queen-cells  than  those  that  of  their  own 
accord  have  already  engaged  in  the  business.  So  a  strong 
colony  is  chosen  which  has  already  started  queen-cells 
in  preparation  for  swarming.  All  queen-cells  already 
started  are  destroyed,  the  queen  is  removed,  and  one 
of  the  frames  is  taken  away,  leaving  a  vacancy  in  the 
center  of  the  hive.  ]\Iost  likely  the  colony  has  one  or 
more  supers,  but  these  are  not  to  be  taken  away. 

BROOD   FOR  OUEEX-CELLS. 

We  now  go  to  the  nucleus  containing  our  best  c(ueen, 
take  out  the  frame  with  the  virgin  comb,  and  replace  it 
with  an  empty  frame  with  its  two  starters,  brushing  back 
into  the  hive  the  bees  from  the  comb  taken  out,  and  clos- 
ing the  hive.  Looking  at  the  comb  taken  out,  you  will 
see  that  instead  of  the  oldest  brood  being  in  the  center, 
it  will  be  in  the  two  places  wdiere  the  two  starters  were 
put.  It  was  for  this  purpose  the  two  starters  at  the  sides 
were  given  rather  than  a  central  one.  For  by  this  means 
the  wavins:  contour  will  give  opportunity  for  a  larger 
number  of  queen-cells  on  the  edge  of  the  comb  than 
would  otherwise  be  the  case. 

TRIMMING  T?IE  BREEDING-COMB. 

For  a  little  distance  at  the  edge,  the  comb  contains 
eggs  only.  This  part  is  trimmed  away,  leaving  the 
youngest  of  the  brood  at  the  edge  of  the  comb  (Fig.  89). 
One  reason  for  this  is  that,  other  thines  beins:  eciual,  the 
bees  show  a  decided  preference  for  building  on  the  edge 
of  a  comb.     Another  reason  is  that  I  decidedly  prefer  to 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  245 

have  cells  on  the  e:lge,  thus  making  them  easier  to  cut 
out  when  wanted.  The  part  cut  away  would  only  be 
in  the  way  of  both  of  us. 

b]-:es  using  younx.  larv.?^  only. 

When  a  queen  is  taken  away  from  a  full  colony,  the 
bees  start  cells  from  voung  brood,  and  as  I  have  already 


Fig.  84. — Woman's  Bee-Dress. 

said,  they  continue  to  start  fresh  cells  for  several  days, 
and  until  after  there  is  no  longer  brood  of  the  proper 
age,  so  that  the  last  cells  started  will  contain  larvae  too 
old  to  make  good  queens.  But  on  these  combs  prepared 
as  I  have  described,  they  do  not  do  so.     Rarely,  if  ever, 


24G  FIFTY  YEARS    AMO\X,  THE  BEES 

will  a  cell  be  found  elsewhere  than  on  the  edge  of  the 
comb,  and  I  have  never  known  the  bees  to  start  a  cell 
after  the  larvae  were  too  old.  T  do  not  know  why  there 
is  this  difference.  T  only  knovs'  the  fact.  But  it  is  a 
ver}"  convenient  fact. 

AGE    OF    LARV.5:    FOR    OUEEXS. 

Scientists  tell  us  that  a  worker-larva  is  fed  for  three 
days  the  same  as  a  queen-larva,  and  then  it  is  weaned. 
Theoretically,  then,  up  to  the  time  a  larva  in  a  worker- 
cell  is  three  days  old,  it  ought  to  be  all  right  to  rear  a 
queen  from.  Practically,  I  do  not  believe  a  larva  three 
days  old  is  as  good  as  a  younger  one.  The  only  reason 
I  have  for  so  believing  is  the  expressed  preference  of 
the  bees  themselves.  Give  them  larvse  of  all  ages  from 
which  to  select,  and  they  always  choose  that  which  is 
two  days  old,  or  younger.  Indeed,  it  will  be  seen  that 
in  the  comb  from  which  I  have  trimmed  the  edge  (Fig. 
89)  the  larv^  on  the  edge  of  the  comb  have  been  out  of 
the  egg  but  a  short  time,  for  I  merely  trimmed  away  the 
eggs,  and  possibly  not  all  of  them. 

PLACING    THE    BREEDIXG-COMB. 

The  breeding-comb,  thus  properly  trimmed,  is  taken 
to  the  queenless  colony,  and  put  in  the  vacancy  that  was 
left  for  it.  On  the  top-bar  of  the  frame  is  penciled  the 
date  on  which  the  cells  are  to  be  cut  out,  allowing  ten 
days  from  the  time  of  putting  in.  Thus,  if  the  frame 
be  given  June  27,  the  number  7  is  put  on  the  top-bar,  July 
7  being  ten  days  later  than  June  2T.  No  need  to  put  the 
month  on.  Beside  giving  the  date,  that  figure  marks  the 
frame,  so  I  can  know  at  a  glance  which  frame  to  take 
out.  At  the  same  time  a  memorandum  of  this  date  is 
put  in  the  record  book  to  remind  me  when  to  cut  the 
cells. 

Some  one  may  ask,  "But  if  you  leave  nearly  all  the 
old  brood  in  the  hive,   will  the  bees   not   start  cells  on 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


247 


them,  with  only  the  smaller  part  on  your  breeding-comb?" 
So  I  thought  at  first,  and  took  some  pains  to  have  no 
very  young  brood  of  the  old  stock  left.  But  I  found  upon 
trial  that  when  I  left  all  the  young  brood  of  the  old 
stock,  the  bees  ignored  this,  at  the  most  starting  upon  it 
one,  two,  possibly  three  cells,  confining  their  attention  to 
the  prepared  frame  I  had  given.  Probably  the  hardness 
of  the  old  combs  and  the  lack  of  convenient  places  in 


Fig.  8j. — Queen-Cell  Stapled  on  Comb. 

which  to  build  cells  convince  the  bees  that  it  is  better  to 
use  the  soft  comb  where  room  is  abundant.  Of  course  a 
cell  or  two  on  the  old  combs  can  do  no  great  harm,  for 
they  will  not  be  used. 

MORE  THAN  ONE   NUCLEUS   IN   HIVE. 


The  frames  for  nuclei  are  the  regular  full-sized 
frames,  and  a  full  hive  may  be  used  for  each  nucleus, 
but  it  is  economy  to  have  the  hive  divided  up  into 
two  or  three  compartments  for  as  many  nuclei.     Three 


248  FIx^TY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

nuclei  in  one  hive  are  mutually  helpful  in  keeping  up  the 
heat,  and  thus  it  is  possible  to  have  the  nuclei  weaker 
than  if  each  nucleus  was  by  itself,  while  results  are  as 
good  with  the  three  weaker  nuclei  in  the  one  hive  as  with 
three  stronger  nuclei  in  three  separate  hives. 

NUCLEUS-HIVE. 

For  many  years  I  have  had  hives  divided  into  two 
or  more  compartments,  and  have  had  much  trouble  from 
the  bees  finding  a  passage  from  one  compartment  to  an- 
other, but  my  latest  nucleus  hives  have  not  troubled  in 
that  way.  They  are  made  from  ordinary  8-frame  hives 
together  with  the  2-inch-deep  bottom-board.  First,  two 
pieces  are  nailed  on  the  inside  of  the  bottom-board,  each 
piece  18^xl34xJ'^.  One  piece  nailed  4^4  inches  from 
one  side,  the  other  4)4  inches  from  the  other  side.  These 
pieces  do  not  lie  flat  in  the  bottom,  but  stand  on  edge, 
with  l^i  inches  between  them.  Then  the  hive  is  fas- 
tened on  the  bottom-board  with  the  four  usual  staples. 
Two  division-boards,  each  183/:|x934x5-l().  are  now  put 
in  place  and  crowded  down  tight  upon  the  two  pieces  in 
the  bottom-board.  These  two  division-boards  are  4^4 
inches  from  each  side,  leaving  2^  inches  between  them. 
The  four  spaces  at  the  top,  at  the  ends  of  the  division- 
boards,  are  closed  by  blocks  ^x^^xo-lfi,  whittled  enough 
to  allow  them  to  be  wedged  into  place.  Light  1^-inch 
wire-nails  are  driven  through  from  the  outside  to  hold 
the  division-boards  in  place.  A  block  10x2x^  is  pushed 
into  the  entrance  centrally,  and  held  there  by  a  nail  light- 
ly driven  in  front  of  it.  That  leaves  an  entrance  at  each 
end  of  the  block  for  the  two  side  compartments,  but  no 
entrance  for  the  middle  compartment.  For  this  purpose 
an  inch  hole  is  bored  in  the  back  end  of  the  hive  midway 
between  the  two  corners,  its  center  being  about  three 
inches  from  the  upper  surface  of  the  hive.  Three  boards 
of  half-inch  stufip  cover  the  three  compartments,  and  over 
this  is  an  ordinarv  hive-cover. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


249 


At  Fig.  90  will  be  seen  a  bottom-board  for  a  nucleus 
hive.  You  will  notice  that  the  two  pieces  that  run  length- 
wise through  the  center  of  the  bottom-board  are  a  quar- 
ter of  an  inch  shallower  than  the  rim  of  the  bottonv- 
board.  If  they  were  2  inches  .leep  instead  of  1^4,  the 
bottom-bars  of  the  frames  would  rest  directly  on  them. 
Of  course  the  division-boards  are  deep  enough  to  come 
clear  down  uj^on  these  two  pieces. 


fig.  86. — Starters  in  Breeding  Frame. 


Two  nucleus-hives  will  be  seen  at  Fig.  91.  The  one 
at  the  right  faces  us,  showing  the  entrance  at  each  side. 
The  back  of  the  left  hive  is  toward  us,  showing  the  round 
liole  near  the  top.  which  serves  as  an  entrance  to  the  mid- 
dle compartment. 

LARGE    SPACE    FOR    MIDDLE    FRAME. 

In  one  of  these  side  compartments  there  is  abundant 
room  for  two  frames  and  a  dummy,  and  three  frames 
without  the  dummy  can  with  care  be  crowded  in.  The 
-central  compartment  will  of  course  take  only  one  frame. 


250  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

It  seems  as  though  2^4  inches  is  quite  too  much  space  for 
one  frame,  but  I  use  that  space  advisedly.  Many  years 
ago  I  made  a  nucleus  hive  with  six  compartments,  and  at 
that  time  not  having  had  much  experience  I  made  each 
compartment  2%  inches  wide.  Years  afterward  I  made 
another  nucleus  hive,  and  smiling  at  my  former  ignor- 
ance and  congratulating  myself  upon  the  superior  knowl- 
edge I  had  gained  with  the  passing  years.  I  made  the 
compartments  more  nearly  in  accord  with  the  usual  space 
occupied  by  each  frame  in  a  hive,  making  each  compart- 
ment— I'm  not  sure  whether  it  was  1^  or  1^.  At  any 
rate,  the  bees  swarmed  out  of  these  limited  quarters  to 
such  an  extent  that  I  could  not  use  them,  whereas  they 
had  not  swarmed  out  of  the  2^4  compartments.  Neither 
have  they  swarmed  out  of  these  later  ones.  Having  so 
much  room  in  these  central  compartments,  the  bees  some- 
times build  pieces  of  comb  on  the  sides  which  I  must 
clean  away,  but  that  is  better  than  to  have  them  swarm 
out. 

CONTENTS   OF    NUCLEUS-HIVE. 

A  nucleus  hive  is  tenanted  by  a  two-frame  nucleus 
on  each  side  and  a  one-frame  nucleus  in  the  middle.  Care 
is  taken  to  choose  one  of  the  best  frames  of  brood  for  the 
middle  nucleus,  and  perhaps  a  few  extra  bees  are  brushed 
in.  A  third  comb  may  be  put  in  each  of  the  side  com- 
partments, or  a  dummy,  the  same  as  the  dummies  used  in 
the  regular  hives. 

MAKING  THE  BEES   STAY. 

^When  populated,  the  entrances  of  the  nuclei  are 
plugged  up  with  green  leaves.  These  are  generally 
taken  away  twenty-four  hours  later,  after  the  hives  are 
pounded  to  stir  up  the  bees,  but  if  they  are  neglected  the 
leaves  will  dry  and  shrink  so  the  bees  can  make  their 
way  out.  It  is  better  to  form  nuclei  with  queenless  bees, 
for  they  are  not  so  much  inclined  as  others  to  go  back  to 
their  old  place. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  251 

BABY   NUCLEI. 

There  has  been  much  interest  in  the  matter  of  hav- 
ing queens  fertiHzed  in  small  nuclei  containing  only  ^O*) 
bees  or  so.  About  the  year  1SG3  I  had  seen  miniature 
nuclei  in  the  apiaries  of  Adam  Grimm,  but  they  had  not 
so  few  bees  as  the  so-called  baby  nuclei  of  to-day.  Of 
course.  I  had  a  number  of  queens  fertilized  in  baby 
nuclei,  but  I  did  not  go  to  the  trouble  of  having  hives 
specially  built  for  them.  I  merely  used  an  8-frame  dove- 
tailed hive,  putting  in  it  sometimes  a  1-pound  section 
nearly  filled  with  honey,  and  sometimes  two  such  sections 
side  by  side.  A  frame  of  brood  with  its  adhering  bees 
was  taken  from  some  colony,  the  bees  shaken  or  brushed 
into  the  nucleus-hive  quickly,  a  virgin  not  more  than  a 
day  or  two  old  dropped  into  the  hive  among  the  bees  and 
all  hastily  closed,  the  entrance  having  been  closed  in 
advance.  Of  course,  the  frame  of  beeless  brood  was  re- 
turned to  its  old  place.  Three  days  later  the  entrance 
was  opened,  and  in  due  time  the  queen  was  laying. 

However  it  may  be  for  the  commercial  queen-reirer, 
for  the  honey-producer  there  seems  no  great  advantage  in 
baby  nuclei.  Fie  generally  needs  to  make  some  increase, 
and  it  is  more  convenient  for  him  to  use  2  or  3-frame 
nuclei  for  queen-rearing,  and  then  build  them  up  into  full 
colonies. 

REGULAR    LI  IVES    FOR    NUCLEI. 

One  year  I  tried  rearing  queens  on  a  commercial 
scale,  producing  them  for  Editor  G.  W.  York  of  the 
American  Bee  Journal.  I  may  say,  parenthetically,  that 
one  season  was  enough  to  convince  me  that  it  was  best  to 
stick  to  honey-production,  rearing  queens  only  for  my 
own  use.  But  I  had  50  three-compartment  hives  left 
on  hand,  and  in  spite  of  that,  truth  compels  me  to  say 
that  latterly  they  generally  lie  idle,  and  I  use  a  full  hive 
for  each  nucleus,  merely  putting  3  or  4  frames  in  one  side 
of  the  hive,  with  a  dummv  beside  them.     To  be  sure,  it 


*252  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

takes  more  bees  than  to  have  three  nuclei  in  one  hive, 
but  it  is  a  good  bit  more  convenient  to  build  up  into  a 
full  colony  a  nucleus  that  has  the  whole  hive  to  itself. 


Fig.  8/. — Putting  Foundation  in  Sections. 


QUEEN-CAGE. 


When  we  go  to  give  queen-cells  to  the  nuclei,  we 
are  provided  with  introducing  queen-cages.  The  first  in- 
troducing-cage  I  devised  was  the  Miller  introducing-cage, 
listed  in  the  catalogs  of  supply-dealers.  Then  I  got  up 
one  I  liked  better,  three  of  which  are  shown  in  Fig.  92, 
the  blocks  containing  the  candy  being  separate  from  the 
cages.      This   may   be   called   Miller   cage   No.   2.     Two 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  2o:r 

blocks  3  inches  by  Yi  by  V^  and  a  piece  of  wire-cloth 
6>^xl%,  form  the  material  for  the  cage.  Lay  the  two 
blocks  parallel  on  their  edges,  and  nail  on  these  one  end 
of  the  wire-cloth,  the  end  of  the  wire-cloth  corresponding 
with  the  ends  of  the  blocks.  Fold  the  wire-cloth  aronnd 
the  ends  of  the  blocks  and  nail  it  on  the  other  side,  and 
you  have  a  cage  3x1  ^x^^^,  outside  measure.  The  plug 
to  close  the  cage  is  not  so  simple,  for  the  cage  is  to  be 
provisioned,  and  the  plug  holds  the  candy.  Two  blocks 
l}ixy2x}4,  a  piece  of  tin  and  a  piece  of  section  stuff  each 
154  inches  square  form  the  material  for  the  plug.  Lay 
the  tw^o  blocks  parallel  on  their  sides,  with  ^4  inch  space 
between  them.  On  these  nail  the  piece  of  tin,  turn  over, 
and  nail  on  the  section  stuff.  Xear  one  end  drive  a  tack 
partly  in  to  prevent  the  plug  going  too  far  into  the  cage. 
That  makes  all  complete. 

After  using  these  for  some  years,  I  got  up  another 
that  in  some  respects  I  like  still  better.  This  is  shown 
in  Fig.  87}4,  and  may  be  called  Miller  cage  Xo.  3.  Make 
a  block  3^xl3/^x5-lG.  From  one  side  of  the  block,  at 
one  end,  cut  out  a  piece  li/2xll-32.  Cut  a  piece  of  tin 
1x2  inches.  Stand  the  block  on  edge  with  the  cut-out 
place  uppermost,  and  in  this  cut-out  place  lay  a  lead  pen- 
cil or  similar  object  5-16  in  diameter.  Over  this  bend 
the  tin,  letting  it  come  out  flush  with  the  end  of  the 
block.  Then  laying  the  block  on  its  side,  still  keeping 
the  pencil  in  place,  drive  two  )4-inch  wire  nails  through 
tin  and  wood,  clinching  on  the  opposite  side.  When  the 
pencil  is  withdrawn  there  is  left  a  tube  to  be  filled  with 
candy.  So  much  for  the  plug.  The  cage  itself  is  made 
of  a  piece  of  wire-cloth  4  inches  square,  if  one  edge  is  a 
selvedge.  If  there  is  no  selvedge,  it  must  be  ^x-t^  and 
Vy  inch  folded  over  as  a  selvedge  to  prevent  raveling.  A 
block  must  be  made,  not  to  be  part  of  the  cage,  but  to  he- 
used  to  form  the  wire-cloth  over.  It  must  be  a  little 
larger  than  the  first  block,  say  5x1  3-1  Gx>}^.  If  the  block 
were  the  same  size  as  the  first,  there  would  be  too  tight 
a  fit,  and  if  the  fit  be  loose  it  is  easy  to  wedge  in  a  thin 


-2M 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


slip,  as  a  piece  of  wood  separator.  The  wire-cloth  is 
wrapped  around  the  block  and  allowed  to  project  at  o  le 
end  about  ^  inch.  A  light  wire  is  wound  twice  around, 
about  j/2  inch  from  the  selvedge  end  (whicn  is  the  part 
that  does  not  project)  riul  fastened.  Another  wire  is 
similarly  fastened  about  1^  inches  from  the  first  wire. 
Now  the  projecting  part  of  the  wire-cloth  is  bent  down 
upon   the  end   of  the   block,   and   hammered   down    with 


Fig.  8/^/i— Miller  Cage  No.  j. 


a  hammer.  That  completes  the  cage,  but  for  convenience 
in  hanging  it  between  brood-frames  one  end  of  a  light 
wire  7  or  8  inches  long  is  fastened  into  one  side  of  the 
cage  about  ^  inch  from  the  open  end.  To  put  it  in  a 
hive,  I  shove  the  frames  apart,  and  holding  the  end  of 
the  wire  lower  the  cage  where  I  want  it,  and  then  shove 
the  frames  together.     That  leaves  3  inches  or  more  of 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  ^oo 

the  wire  above  the  top-bars,  and  when  I  want  to  take 
out  the  cage  I  take  hold  of  the  wire,  draw  the  frames 
apart,  and  lift  out  the  cage.  The  wire  serves  also  to 
mark  the  spot  where  the  cage  is. 

When  the  tube  is  filled  with  candy,  it  may  be  pushed 
so  far  into  the  cage  that  the  bees  can  not  get  at  the 
candy.  Then  when  it  is  desired  that  the  bees  shall  get 
at  the  candy,  the  plug  is  drawn  out  until  the  candy  is 
exposed.  This  is  more  reliable  as  to  time  than  to  have 
the  usual  cage  with  the  candy  covered  with  card-board. 
With  the  card-board  there  is  no  certainty  as  to  whether 
the  queen  will  be  released  in  24  hours  or  much  longer. 
Sometimes  it  may  be  several  days.  With  the  No.  3  care 
you  know  just  how  long  the  bees  have  the  cage  before 
they  get  to  the  candy,  and  after  the  candy  is  exposed  you 
may  count  on  the  bees  clearing  out  the  candy  in  about  24 
hours. 

It  may  be  objected  that  it  is  troublesome  to  open  up 
the  hive  to  change  the  position  of  the  plug  in  the  cage. 
That  is  true,  and  often,  if  not  generally,  the  cage  is  nofe 
prt  between  the  combs,  but  thrust  in  the  entrance,  making 
sure  that  it  is  where  it  will  be  protected  by  the  bees. 
After  being  there  about  two  days,  it  is  only  the  work  of 
a  minute  to  take  out  the  cage,  expose  the  candy,  and  put 
the  cage  back  in  the  entrance. 

Sometimes,  if  I  want  to  have  the  work  done  auto- 
matically, I  use  a  device  that  delays  the  work  abort  as 
much  as  the  card-board,  but  is  more  uniform  in  the  time 
it  takes.  I  thrust  into  the  center  of  the  tube  of  candy  its 
whole  length  a  wooden  splint  about  1-16  of  an  inch 
square,  and  that  delays  the  bees  at  gnawing  out  the 
candy. 

When  a  queen-cell  is  to  be  caged,  the  No.  2  cage 
allows  more  room  for  the  cell. 

For  making  queen-cages,  instead  of  the  common 
painted  wire-cloth  that  is  used  for  screen  doors,  I  like 
better  extra  heavy  bright  wire-cloth.  It  is  more  sub- 
stantial.    But  E.  R.  Root  says  queens  have  been  poisoned 


256  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

in  such  cages,  so  have  a  care,  although  I  have  had  hun- 
dreds of  queens  in  them  without  noting  any  harm.  Per- 
haps all  tinned  wire-cloth  is  not  alike. 

DISTRIBUTING    OUEEX-CELLS. 

When  the  queen-cells  are  to  he  distributed,  the  first 
thing  is  to  provision  a  number  of  queen-cages  of  the  No. 
2  style,  w^ith  the  usual  queen-candy,  tacking  a  piece  of 
pasteboard  on  the  end  of  the  plug.  Then  we  go  to  the 
nucleus  where  the  cells  are  stored,  cut  out  the  cells,  re- 
jecting any  that  do  not  appear  satisfactory,  and  put  the 
cells  in  the  cages.  Some  cells,  however,  are  left  un- 
caged. When  we  come  to  a  nucleus  that  has  had  no  queen 
for  a  day  or  more,  there  is  no  need  of  caging  the  cell.  It 
is  put  against  the  comb  in  a  good  place,  and  fastened  there 
with  a  hive-staple  (Fig.  85).  Coming  to  a  nucleus  with 
a  queen  which  we  wish  to  remove,  we  put  the  queen  in 
a  cage,  and  give  the  nucleus  a  caged  cell,  laying  the  cage 
against  the  comb  and  nailing  it  there  with  a  1>^  or  1^ 
'wire-nail  (Fig.  93).  This  nail  is  slender  so  as  to  prsh 
easily  through  the  meshes  of  the  wire-cloth.  Then  the 
young  queens  that  we  have  removed  are  used  wherever 
needed. 

BRUSHING    BEES    OFF    OUEEX-CELLS. 

Before  cutting  cells  from  the  comb  the  bees  must  be 
removed,  and  it  would  mean  the  ruin  of  the  cells  to  shake 
the  bees  ofif.  Brushing  with  a  Coggshall  brush,  al- 
though it  might  do  with  extreme  care,  would  be  likely 
to  result  in  torn  cells.  Even  something  no  stiffer  than 
goldenrod  or  sweet  clover  needs  much  care.  T  like  best 
a  bunch  of  long  and  soft  June  grass — a  very  fiimsy  afifair 
to  use  as  a  brush,  but  it  is  safe. 

ADVANTAGE  OF  CAGING   CELLS. 

Of  course  the  object  of  caging  the  cells  is  to  prevent 
the  bees  from  tearing  them  down.     At  the  time  of  taking 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


257 


a  queen  out  of  a  nucleus,  if  a  cell  were  merely  stapled 
on,  the  bees  would  be  pretty  sure  to  destroy  it,  for  not 
yet  realizing  that  their  young  laying  queen  has  been 
taken  from  them,  they  feel  no  need  of  anything  like  a 
queen-cell.  So  the  cage  saves  the  time  and  trouble  of 
waiting  and  making  a  second  visit  another  day. 


Fig.  88. — Comb  for  Queen-Cells. 


There  is,  however,  another  advantage  in  using  the 
cage,  making  it  somewhat  desirable  to  use  it  in  all  cases. 
We  often  want  to  know  what  has  been  the  fate  of  a  cell, 
and  can  generally  tell  pretty  well  by  its  appearance.  If 
it  has  the  appearance  of  most  of  those  in  Fig.  94,  we 
know  that  a  young  queen  has  emerged  and  must  be  in 
the  nucleus.  If  it  is  torn  open  in  the  side,  like  the  one 
at  the  extreme  right,  we  are  sure  that  the  young  queen  in 
it  was  destroyed  by  the  bees. 

If  the  cells  have  merely  been  stapled  on,  the  bees  are 
so  prompt  about  removing  them  as  soon  as  they  are  no 
longer  of  any  use  that  scarce  a  vestige  of  them  is  left, 
so  we  have  nothing  to  judge  by.     But  when  a  cell  is  en- 


258  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

closed  in  a  cage,  the  bees  are  very  slow  about  removing- 
it,  so  the  cage  gives  us  a  better  chance  for  judging. 

APPEARANCE  OF  VACATED  CELLS. 

In  Fig.  94  the  first  three  cells  at  the  left  have  the  cap 
still  adhering  by  a  neck,  showing  that  it  has  been  only  a 
short  time  since  the  queen  emerged,  providing  the  cell 
has  not  been  caged ;  if  it  has  been  caged  the  queen  may 
have  been  out  some  time.  The  fourth  cell  looks  entire, 
as  if  it  yet  contained  a  young  queen.  But  it  is  decep- 
tive. The  bees  have  a  trick  of  fastening  the  cap  back 
again  as  if  it  were  a  great  joke,  sometimes  thus  impris- 
oning one  of  their  own  number.  A  very  close  look  will 
generally  show  a  little  crack,  and  a  very  little  force  will 
be  needed  to  pick  the  cap  loose.  The  next  six  cells  show 
plainly  that  a  young  queen  has  emerged  from  each,  and 
finding  a  cell  of  that  kind  is  just  as  good  evidence  as  a 
sight  of  the  queen  ;  only  I  would  a  little  rather  see  the 
queen  for  the  bare  chance  that  she  may  not  have  perfect 
wings.  As  already  mentioned,  the  cell  at  the  extreme 
right  shows  by  the  hole  in  its  side  that  no  queen  ever 
came  out  of  it  alive. 

MILLER  QUEEN   NURSERY. 

Whatever  the  advantages  of  using  queen-cells  instead 
of  virgin  queens,  there  are  also  advantages  in  having 
the  young  queens  hatch  out  in  a  queen  nursery.  So  I 
have  made  considerable  use  of  a  nursery  of  my  own  de- 
vising. Fig.  885^.  It  may  take  the  place  of  a  brood- 
frame  in  any  hive,  in  the  lower  story  or  in  an  upper  story. 
and  it  does  not  matter  whether  a  laying  queen  is  in  the 
hive  or  not. 

For  this  nursery  I  use  a  regular  ?yliller  frame,  which 
lends  itself  to  the  purpose  admirably,  top-bar,  bottom- 
bar  and  end-bar  being  all  of  the  same  width,  1%  inches. 
If  you  haven't  a  Miller  frame,  you  can  easily  make  a 
frame  having  all  parts  the  same  width,  1^  inches;  only 
be  sure  the  end-bars  are  at  least  ^  thick,  and  have  the 
outer  dimensions  of  the  frame  the  same  as  the  frames 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


259 


you  have  regularly  in  use.  I'll  give  instructions  tor 
making  a  nursery  with  a  frame  of  the  Langstroth  size, 
and  if  your  frames  are  of  different  size  you  must  act  ac- 
cordingly. 

Make  T  pieces,  each  long  enough  to  reach  from  top- 


bar  to  bottom-bar   (  with  top-bar 


and  bottom-bar 


Ficr.  88V2 — Miller  Oncen  Xurserx. 


that  makes  the  length  8  inches),  1)4,  wide,  and  ^  thick. 
Saw-kerfs  must  be  made  on  eich  side  of  these  T  pieces. 
Beginning  1^  inches  from  one  end,  on  one  side  of  the 
piece,  with  a  very  fine  saw.  make  a  saw-kerf  by  sawing 
about  half-way  through.  Make  a  similar  kerf  1>4  inches 
from  the  first,  and  then,  each  time  measuring  off  1^ 
inches,  make  3  more  kerfs,  making  5  in  all.  (Your  last 
kerf  will  be  more  than  IV^  inches  from  the  end,  but  that's 
all  right.)  Do  the  same  thing  on  the  opposite  side,  be- 
ginning at  the  opposite  end.  Make  sinnlar  kerfs  in  each 
end-b?r.   measuring   from   the   top-bar   for   one   end,   and 


260  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

from  the  bottom-bar  for  the  other  end.  Of  course  these 
kerfs  are  to  be  made  on  the  inside  of  the  end-bar,  and 
none  on  the  outside.  Now  distribute  these  7  pieces  at 
equal  distances  from  one  end  of  the  frame  to  the  other, 
and  if  you  are  exact  about  it  the  distance  between  each 
two  will  be  1  25-32  inches.  Fasten  these  7  sticks  in  by 
driving  one  nail  down  through  the  top-bar  into  each,  and 
two  nails  through  the  bottom-bar.  Before  nailing,  make 
sure  that  each  stick  faces  right,  as  mentioned  further  on. 
Nail  upon  one  side  of  your  frame  a  piece  of  wire-cloth  to 
cover  it  (175/8x9^).  Have  the  nails  not  more  than  2 
inches  apart  all  around  and  on  each  stick.  I  use  bright 
wire-cloth,  extra  heavy,  with  meshes  of  the  usual  size 
in  screen-doors. 

You  now  need  40  pieces  of  tin,  2x1^  inches  to  go 
into  all  the  saw-kerfs.  Each  piece  of  tin  serves  as  a 
shelf,  thus  dividing  up  the  whole  into  48  compartments. 
You  will  now  see  the  necessity  of  having  the  sticks  face 
each  other  so  as  to  have  the  kerfs  correspond,  as  men- 
tioned a  minute  ago.  Look  out  for  this  before  you  nail 
the  sticks  in  place. 

To  close  these  compartments,  you  need  8  pieces  of 
tin,  each  10x2  inches.  That's  y^  inch  longer  than  the 
depth  of  the  frame,  allowing  the  J^  to  be  bent  over  at 
right  angles  on  the  top-bar.  To  hold  these  covers  in 
place  I  use  heavy  pins  bent  over.  Small  screw-hooks  of 
straight  pattern  might  do  better.  Three  are  needed  in 
each  end-bar,  and  6  in  each  upright.  Of  course  these 
tin  covers  are  put  in  at  the  top  and  slide  down. 

You  will  see  that  each  of  the  compartments  furnishes 
a  large  amount  of  room,  40  of  them  being  1  25-32x1  i4x 
ly^,  and  the  remaining  8  being  larger.  That  gives 
abundance  of  room  to  put  in  the  largest  kind  of  a  queen- 
cell.  With  each  cell  is  given  a  ball  of  candy  the  size  of 
a  pea. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  261 

ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES   OF   A      QUEEN    NURSERY. 

If  a  ripe  queen-cell  is  given  to  a  nucleus  or  colony, 
there  is  no  way  to  be  sure  that  a  queen  that  is  all  right 
will  issue  from  it.  She  may  be  imperfect  as  to  her  legs, 
and,  what  is  still  worse,  her  wings  may  be  so  deficient  that 
she  never  can  fly.  If  she  can  not  fly  she  can  never  be 
fertilized,  and  so  is  worthless.  Indeed  she  is  worse  than 
worthless,  for  she  is  wasting  the  time  of  the  nucleus. 
Sometimes,  indeed,  it  happens  that  the  occupant  of  the 
queen-cell  is  dead.  All  of  this  is  avoided  by  having  the 
virgins  hatch  out  in  a  nursery.  If  a  cell  is  cut  into,  and 
is  given  to  a  nucleus,  the  bees  will  at  once  destroy  it,  but 
in  the  nursery  it  will  hatch  out  all  right. 

One  may  have  a  lot  of  queen-cells  on  hand  with  no 
immediate  use  for  them.  It  will  not  do  to  leave  them 
without  cutting  out  beyond  a  certain  time,  for  the  hatch- 
ing out  of  the  first  one  means  the  death  of  all  the  rest. 
But  if  they  are  put  in  a  nursery  they  are  safe,  and  may 
be  left  stored  in  the  nursery  for  some  days  after  hatching 
out. 

Over  against  these  advantages  stands  the  one  disad- 
vantage that  in  the  nursery  the  bees  are  not  allowed  to 
come  in  immediate  bodily  contact  with  the  cells,  nor  with 
the  young  queen  after  she  issues  from  the  cell.  Some 
think  this  so  serious  a  disadvantage  as  to  overbalance  all 
the  advantages  of  the  nursery.  It  is  claimed  that  the 
clustering  of  the  bees  about  the  cells  and  the  young 
queens  does  more  than  merely  to  keep  up  the  tempera- 
ture to  a  certain  point,  and  that  when  this  close  contact  is 
lacking  something  will  be  lacking  in  the  resulting  queens. 
Also  that  the  young  queens  thus  isolated  and  imprisoned 
are  in  a  frightened  condition,  and  that  a  young  queen 
reared  in  such  an  atmosphere  is  not  the  same  as  one  that 
has  the  feeling  that  she  is  all  the  while  closely  surrounded 
by  friends. 

So  whether  it  be  wise  to  use  a  nursery  or  not,  it  will 
certainly  be  wise  not  to  put  cells  into  it  before  it  is  neces- 


262  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

sary  for  their  safety,  nor  to  leave  a  virgin  in  a  nursery 
any  longer  than  necessity  -lemands. 

QUALITY  OF  QUEENS. 

The  question  has  been  raised  whether  queens  reare  1 
in  the  way  I  have  described  are  as  good  as  those  reared 
by  the  latest  methods.  I  think  I  can  judge  pretty  well 
as  to  the  character  of  a  queen  after  watching  her  work 
for  a  year  or  two  ;  I  have  kept  closely  in  touch  with  what 
improvements  have  been  made  in  the  way  of  queen-rear- 
ing, and  have  reared  queens  by  the  hundred  in  the  latest 
style ;  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  simple  method 
I  have  given  produces  queens  that  can  not  be  surpassed 
by  any  other  method. 

BEGINNER   IMPROVING   STOCK. 

I  have  been  asked  whether  I  would  advise  a  beginner 
with  only  half  a  dozen  colonies,  one  of  them  having  a 
superior  queen,  to  use  the  plans  I  have  given  to  rear 
queens  from  his  best  queen.  I  certainly  should,  if  he  in- 
tends to  give  much  attention  to  the  business  and  increase 
the  number  of  his  colonies.  The  essential  steps  to  be 
taken  are  simple  enough  ;  and  even  a  beginner  can  easily 
follow  them.  But  in  a  few  words,  here  is  what  I  would 
advise  him : 

Take  from  the  colony  having  your  best  queen  one  of 
its  frames,  and  put  in  the  center  of  the  hive  a  frame  half 
filled  or  entirely  filled  with  foundation.  If  small  starters 
are  used  in  a  full  colony  the  bees  are  likely  to  fill  out  with 
dron^-comb.  A  week  later  take  out  this  comb,  and  trim 
away  the  edge  that  contains  only  eggs.  Put  this  ])repared 
frame  in  the  center  of  any  strong  colony  after  taking 
away  its  queen  and  one  of  its  frames.  Ten  days  later  cut 
out  these  cells,  to  be  used  wdierever  desired,  giving  the 
colony  its  queen  or  some  other  queen. 

Now  there's  nothing  very  complicated  about  that,  is 
there? 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  265 

ITALIANIZING    WITH    NATURAL    SWARMING. 

Yet  Still  there  are  some  who  don't  want  to  take  even 
that  much  trouble.  A  man  says :  "All  I  care  to  do  with 
the  bees  is  to  hive  the  swarms  that  come  out,  and  to  put 
on  the  surplus  boxes  and  take  them  off  when  filled.  I 
never  take  a  frame  out  of  a  hive  any  more  than  if  they 
were  all  box-hives.  But  I  have  Italians  in  one  hive,  and 
if  I  could  I'd  like  to  have  more  of  that  stock." 

For  such  a  one  I  would  advise  after  this  manner: 
Suppose  we  call  your  Italian  colony  A,  the  strongest  of 
the  other  colonies  B,  the  next  strongest  C,  the  next  D, 
and  so  on.  When  A  swarms,  hive  the  swarm  and  set  it 
on  the  old  stand,  put  A  in  place  of  B,  and  put  B  on  a  new 
stand.  All  the  field-bees  of  B  will  return  to  A,  making  A 
quite  strong  again.  In  8  or  10  days  a  young  queen  will 
be  ready  in  A  to  go  out  with  a  swarm.  Hive  the  swarm, 
put  it  in  place  of  A,  put  A  in  place  of  C,  and  put  C  in  a 
new  place.  The  field-bees  of  C  will  again  strengthen  A. 
and  in  a  day  or  two  another  swarm  will  issue.  Put  the 
swarm  in  place  of  A,  put  A  in  place  of  D,  and  put  D  in 
a  new  place.  Continue  this  as  long  as  A  continues  to 
swarm,  and  each  one  of  your  swarms  will  have  for  its 
queen  a  daughter  of  your  Italian  queen.  If  you  have  only 
five  or  six  colonies,  the  whole  lot  may  be  thus  Italianized. 

QUEENS    FOR    OUT-APIARIES. 

On  an}-  day  when  we  are  going  to  an  out-apiary  and 
expect  to  use  young  queens,  we  take  them  from  any  nu- 
cleus that  will  furnish  them,  never  putting  any  escort 
bees  in  the  cage  with  the  queen,  and  generally  one  or 
more  extra  queens  are  taken  along,  for  we  are  never  sure 
they  may  not  be  needed. 

Care  is  taken  that  the  record-book  shall  always  show 
the  condition  of  each  nucleus  ;  so  we  always  liave  some 
idea  as  to  which  nucleus  will  furnish  a  la\i;\g  queen, 
which   one   needs   a  cell,   and   so  on. 


2G4  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

INTRODUCING   QUEENS. 

A  queen  may  be  introduced  in  a  No.  2  provisioned 
cage,  the  cage  being  nailed  directly  over  the  brood,  as  in 
Fig.  93,  or  she  may  be  introduced  in  a  No.  3  cage  let 
down  between  the  combs  or  thrust  into  the  entrance  as 


Fig.  8g. — Comb  for  Queen-Cells,  Triimiied. 

already  described.  Often,  however,  when  it  is  con- 
venient, I  take  from  a  nucleus  the  frame  on  which  the 
queen  is  found,  and  put  frame  and  all  in  the  queenless 
hive.  If  this  is  done  at  a  time  when  honey  is  yielding, 
there  is  little  or  no  danger,  provided  the  colony  has  been 
queenless  long  enough  to  be  fully  conscious  of  its  queen- 
lessness.  Indeed,  I  have  introduced  many  a  queen  during 
the  harvest  into  a  colony  conscious  of  its  queenlessness,  by 
merely  taking  out  a  frame  of  brood  and  dropping  the 
queen  among  the  bees  on  the  middle  of  the  comb.  If  I 
wish  to  run  no  risk  whatever,  as  in  the  case  of  a  valuable 
imported  queen,  I  put  in  a  hive  without  any  bees  several 
frames  with  no  unsealed  brood,  but  with  plenty  of  sealed 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  2b5 

brood,  some  of  it  just  emerging,  and  then  closing  the 
hive  bee-tight  put  it  where  there  is  no  danger  of  the 
brood  being  chilled.  One  way  to  do  this  is  to  put  it  over 
a  strong  colony,  wire-cloth  preventing  the  passage  of  the 
bees  from  one  hive  to  the  other.  At  the  end  of  five  days 
the  hive  can  be  set  on  its  own  stand,  and  these  five-day- 
old  bees,  under  the  stress  of  necessity,  will  soon  be  seen 
carrying  in  pollen. 

ARTIFICIAL    INCREASE. 

Fighting  so  bitterly  against  all  increase  by  swarm- 
ing, I  would  run  out  of  bees  entirely  if  I  did  not  resort 
to  artificial  increase.  Without  pretending  to  give  all 
the  ways  by  which  increase  has  been  made,  I  may  tell 
just  a  little  about  it. 

One  can  make  increase  by  drawing  brood  or  bees,  or 
both,  from  colonies  that  are  working  for  honey,  and 
thus  keep  all  the  old  colonies  storing,  and  at  the  same 
time  make  the  desired  increase.  In  that  way  the  largest 
number  of  colonies  possible  are  kept  at  work  on  the 
harvest,  and  one  might  have  a  feeling  that  all  the  in- 
crease was  clear  gain.  But  the  feeling  is  a  delusive  one. 
It  is  not  the  number  of  colonies  at  work  storing,  but  the 
number  of  bees,  that  count.  And  60,000  bees  in  one  hive 
will  store  more  honey  than  will  the  same  number  of  bees 
equally  divided  in  two  hives.  So  in  planning  for  in- 
crease, I  generally  count  that  the  colonies  that  are  drawn 
upon  for  increase  shall  make  that  their  business  without 
being  expected  to  be  called  upon  to  store  surplus,  while 
those  that  work  for  surplus  are  to  be  left  in  the  fullest 
strength  possible  throughout  the  season.  You  cannot 
make  something  out  of  nothing,  and  if  increase  is  to  be 
made  you  may  as  well  devote  a  certain  number  of  colo- 
nies to  that  business. 

INCREASING  BY  TAKING  TO  OUT-APIARY. 

The  case  may  be  different  in  a  locality  where  there 
is  a  long  and  late  flow,  but  I  am  talking  about  this  local- 


266  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

ity  with  white  clover  as  the  dependence  for  a  harvest. 
In  the  year  1880  I  took  1,200  pounds  of  honey  from 
twelve  colonies  and  increased  them  to  eighty-one  ;  but  the 
honey  taken  was  extracted  buckwheat,  and  I  never  knew 
such  a  buckwheat  harvest  before  or  since.  Perhaps  it 
will  be  well  to  tell  more  explicitly  how  that  increase  was 
made.  The  success  achieved  will  be  somewhat  dimin- 
ished when  I  say  that  the  bees  were  supplied  with  ready- 
built  combs,  so  they  had  no  combs  to  build.  But  they 
had  no  help  from  other  colonies  in  the  way  of  bees  or 
brood  except  a  few  eggs  from  which  to  rear  queens. 

The  twelve  colonies  were  taken  from  the  home 
apiary  to  the  Wilson  apiary,  and  were  prepared  in  ad- 
vance for  dividing.  From  part  of  them  the  queens  were 
taken  and  queen-cells  thus  secured.  Ten-frame  hives 
were  used  at  that  time,  and  by  some  help  from  others  of 
the  twelve,  a  hive  would  contain  ten  frames  of  brood 
and  bees  without  any  queen,  a  sealed  queen-cell  on  each 
frame  of  brood.  After  standing  a  day  or  so  this  hive 
would  be  taken  to  the  out-apiary,  and  the  ten  frames  put 
in  ten  different  hives.  Of  course  every  bee  staid  just 
where  it  was  put.  To  each  of  these  was  added  another 
frame  of  brood  and  adhering  bees  that  had  been  brought 
along,  and  whether  these  bees  were  queenless  or  not  there 
was  nothing  for  them  but  to  stay  where  they  were  put. 
In  the  course  of  time  these  first-formed  nuclei  were 
strong  enough  to  help  others,  and  the  latest  nuclei  were 
built  up  at  once  into  fair  colonies. 

INCREASING  9  WEAK  COLONIES  TO  5(3. 

In  the  year  1899,  at  the  Hastings  apiary,  I  increased 
nine  colonies  to  fifty-six,  making  them  rear  their  own 
queens,  and  building  up  mostly  on  foundation.  Xo  ad- 
vantage was  taken  in  the  way  of  hauling  colonies  from 
home  to  divide,  and  the  same  plan  would  work  just  as 
well  if  I  had  had  only  one  apiary.  The  increase  was 
very    satisfactory,    considering    how    weak    the    colonies 


FIFTY  YEARS    A.MOXG  THE  BEES 


;67 


were  at  the  start.  ]\Iay  29  there  were  only  forty-one 
combs  containing  any  brood  in  the  nine  colonies,  count- 
ing each  comb  with  brood,  even  if  the  patch  of  brood 
were  no  larger  than  a  silver  dollar.  I  doubt  if  the  nine 
averaged  any  more  than  three  and  a  half  good  frames 
of  brood  each.     On  the  other  hand,  the  vear  was  un- 


Fig.  go. — Xucleits  Bottom-Board. 


usually  favorable  for  increase,  for  there  was  a  continu- 
ous though  not  strong  flow  right  through  until,  I  think, 
in  September. 

Xo  attempt  could  be  made  at  increase  until  the  col- 
onies were  stronger,  and  the  first  step  looking  in  that 
direction  was  not  made  until  Jiuie  I'l.  On  that  date  Xo. 
23 T  with  its  seven  frames  of  brood  and  bees  was  taken 
from  its  stand,  and  a  hive  of  empty  combs  set  on  the 
stand.  The  queen  was  found  and  put  in  the  hive  of 
empty  combs,  which  by  this  time  had  a  good  many  bees 
returning  from  the  field.  The  queen  of  X'o.  237  was 
considered  the  best  in  the  apiary.  X'o.  237  was  now  set 
on  the  stand  of  X^o.  235,  and  X^o.  235  was  set  in  a  neu- 


268  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

place.  Please  understand  that  the  stand  holds  its  num- 
ber, and  that  when  the  hive  that  was  on  stand  237  is 
moved  as  stated  it  is  now  No.  235.  We  now  have  on 
235  a  hive  full  of  brood  and  bees  without  any  queen,  and 
while  it  will  lose  the  old  flying  force  it  had,  it  will  get 
the  flying  force  that  belongs  to  its  present  stand.  The 
colony  that  was  moved  from  235  will,  of  course,  lose  its 
flying  force,  and  will  take  its  time  to  recuperate. 

The  bees  on  these  two  stands — 235  and  237 — were 
the  principal  actors  throughout  the  season,  the  other  col- 
onies in  the  apiary  merely  serving  as  feeders  from  which 
to  draw  brood  from  time  to  time.  On  237  was  left  the 
hive  of  empty  combs,  the  queen,  and  the  constantly  in- 
creasing flying  force.  We  now  go  to  the  other  colonies 
and  draw  from  them  wdiat  brood  they  can  spare  without 
depleting  them  unwisely,  leaving  foundation  in  place  of 
the  brood.  Looking  at  the  record  I  find  this  w^as  only 
four  frames  of  brood.  No  bees  were  taken  wdth  this 
brood.  An  upper  story  was  put  on  237  and  these  four 
frames  of  brood  put  in  it  with  four  empty  combs.  Of 
course  the  queen  and  bees  would  soon  be  up  in  this  upper 
story. 

Matters  were  left  in  this  shape  for  nine  days,  the 
plan  being  to  visit  the  apiary  every  nine  days  throughout 
the  summer.  A  stormy  day,  however,  might  extend  the 
time  to  ten  days,  or  Sunday  coming  on  the  ninth  day 
might  shorten  the  time  to  eight  days. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  nine  days,  June  21,  we  re- 
turned. We  took  the  brood  with  queen-cells  and  all 
bees  from  235,  and  formed  two  nuclei.  Just  why  we  did 
not  'start  three  I  don't  know,  for  usually  w^e  started  a 
nucleus  w^ith  tw^o  frames  of  brood,  and  w^e  must  have  had 
more  than  four  frames  of  brood.  No  measures  were 
taken  to  make  these  bees  stay  where  they  were  put ;  it 
w^as  not  necessary  with  such  queenless  bees. 

Then,  we  took  the  upper  story  of  237,  with  all  its 
brood  and  bees,  and  put  it  on  235,  taking  out  the  queen 
and  putting  her  back  in  the  lower  story  on  237.     Then 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


2b9 


we  looked  to  see  what  brood  we  could  get  in  the  seven 
colonies  that  acted  as  feeders,  without  reducing  any  of 
them  to  less  than  four  or  five  brood.  This  time  we  found 
six  brood,  which  we  took  without  anv  bees,  and  put  on 
237. 

This  was  the  regular  program  each  time :   forming 
nuclei  with  the  brood,  bees,  and  cells  on  235  ;  putting  all 


Fig.  gi. — Nucleus  Hives. 


brood   and   bees   from   23' 


always   leaving  the 


queen  at  237;  and  then  getting  for  237  a  fresh  stock  of 
brood  wherever  it  could  be  spared. 

As  none  of  the  assisting  colonies  were  overdrawn, 
they  would  be  getting  stronger,  so  that  up  to  a  certain 


7-^70    .  FIFTY  YEARS    A^^IOXG  THE  BEES 

])oint  more  brood  could  be  drawn  each  time.  July  18, 
for  the  first  time,  more'  brood  was  drawn  than  it  was 
thought  wise  to  give  to  237,  there  being  twenty  frames 
in  all.  Sixteen  of  these,  or  two  hives  full,  were  taken  for 
237,  the  other  four  were  used  to  strengthen  some  of  the 
nuclei.  Xot  the  weakest  nuclei  were  strengthened,  but 
tlie  earliest  and  strongest,  for  by  being  helped  these 
would  become  strong  enough  to  be  helpers  in  turn.  In 
fact,  toward  the  last  of  the  season,  when  there  was  little 
time  for  nuclei  to  grow  up,  the  earlier  nuclei  rendered 
substantial  aid  to  the  later  ones,  at  least  one  of  them 
yielding  as  many  as  nine  frames  of  brood.  The  first  nu- 
clei were  formed  June  21,  as  already  mentioned;  the  last 
were  formed  August  23. 

I  have  gone  thus  fully  into  detail,  because  I  believe 
this  plan  can  be  used  successfully  by  any  one  who  has 
only  a  small  number  of  colonies  and  is  desirous  of  in- 
crease. The  first  nuclei  are  formed  early  enough  in  the 
season  so  that  they  have  more  than  time  enough  to  be- 
come strong  colonies,  and  the  latest  must  be  formed 
only  in  sufficient  numbers  so  that  they  can  be  strength- 
ened up  as  soon  as  the  queen  gets  to  laying. 

NUCLEUS   PLAX   OF  INCREASE. 

AA'ith  nucleus  hives  for  queen-rearing,  as  already 
described,  it  is  easy  to  carry  out  the  nucleus  system  in 
the  strictest  sense.  I  go  to  a  nucleus  with  a  laying  queen, 
preferring  a  nucleus  with  two  or  three  frames,  take  all 
the  frames  with  queen  and  adhering  bees,  put  them  in 
an  empty  hive,  and  set  the  hive  on  an  empty  stand.  A 
week  later  a  frame  of  brood  may  be  added.  It  will  be 
better  if  it  can  be  given  with  adhering  bees,  and  still  bet- 
ter if  the  bees  can  be  queenless.  Still,  there  is  no  great 
danger  to  the  queen  in  any  case,  although  the  weaker  the 
nucleus  when  strange  bees  are  given,  the  greater  the 
danger  to  the  queen.  A  week  later  on,  two  frames  of 
brood  and  bees  may  be  added,  and  the  queen  will  be  safer 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  271 

if  these  two  frames  are  taken  from  two  different  colonies. 
The  colony 
ow^n  devices 


The  colony  will  then  be  strong  enough  to  be  left  to  its 


NUCLEUS    BUILDING    UP    WITHOUT    HELP. 

Indeed,  it  is  not  necessary  to  do  anything  more  than 
to  let  a  nucleus  stand  without  any  help  in  a  fair  season, 
if  it  can  stand  long  enough,  yiy  assistant  is  inclined  to 
be  quite  optimistic  in  some  things,  and  one  August  she 
expressed  her  belief  that  a  nucleus  of  two  frames  with  a 
laying  queen  w^ould  be  able  without  any  assistance,  if 
started  on  that  date.  Aug.  (i,  to  build  up  into  a  colony 
strong  enough  to  winter.  I  said  that  would  be  asking 
too  much,  and  we  would  put  the  matter  to  the  test.  So 
two  frames  of  brood  with  adhering  bees  were  put  in  a 
hive  on  a  new  stand,  and  tw^o  days  later  a  laying  queen 
was  given.  The  two  frames  of  brood  were  rather  better 
than  the  average,  for  I  w'anted  her  to  see  that  even  with 
an  extra  chance  it  was  too  late  in  the  season  for  any  such 
growth.  I  don't  know  whether  she  watched  that  colony 
on  the  sly  or  not,  but  I  did.  Looking  at  it  every  few- 
days,  I  could  see  no  gain — if  anything  it  grew  weaker. 
Then  I  thought  I  could  see  a  little  gain,  and  in  twelve 
days  from  the  time  it  w^as  started  the  two  frames  of 
brood  had  increased  to  two  and  a  half.  Five  days  later 
there  were  three  brood,  and  from  that  on  it  walked  right 
along  to  a  fair  colony,  although  it  had  to  be  fed  up  for 
winter.  Rut  I  would  not  want  to  count  on  starting  for 
a  full  colony  so  late  as  that  in  all  seasons,  especially  if  the 
frames  of  brood  were  not  the  very  best. 

INCREASE   W^ITHOUT    NUCLEI. 

These  different  ways  are  all  on  the  nucleus  plan. 
Just  one  more  way  I  want  to  mention,  and  it  is  not  on 
the  nucleus  plan,  but  if  queens  are  on  hand  I  think  I  like 
it  as  well  as  any.  We  take  four  colonies,  and  the  first 
thing  is  to  have  all  four  strong  before  anything  is  done. 


272  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

Then  we  take  an  empty  hive-body  without  any  bottom- 
board,  and  into  it  we  put  two  frames  of  brood  without 
any  bees  from  the  first  hive  (a  few  bees  will  do  no 
harm),  the  same  from  the  second,  and  the  same  from  the 
third,  filling  out  the  hive  with  two  empty  combs  or  combs 
with  some  honey.  In  the  middle  of  the  hive  is  a  pro- 
visioned introducing-cage  containing  a  laying  queen. 
Upon  the  fourth  hive  we  put  a  queen-excluder,  and  on 


Fig.  g2. — Improved  Miller  Queen-Cages. 


this  we  set  our  hive  full  of  brood,  and  cover  it  up. 
Three  or  four  hours  later,  or  twenty-four  hours 
later  if  more  convenient,  this  hive  is  set  upon  a  bottom- 
board  on  a  new  stand,  and  the  work  is  all  done.  A  way 
that  is  easier,  and  nearly  as  good,  is  to  set  the  hive  with 
the  six  brood  immediately  in  place  of  the  fourth  hive, 
setting  the  fourth  hive  in  a  new  place.  The  returning 
field-bees  will  populate  the  new  hive.  Ten  days  or  two 
weeks  later  the  performance  may  be  repeated  if  the  sea- 
son is  prosperous,  and  this  may  be  repeated  a  number  of 


FlFl  V   YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


275 


times.  Of  course  empty  combs  or  foundation  will  take 
the  place  of  the  two  frames  of  brood  drawn  from  each 
hive.  An  advantage  of  this  plan  is  that  it  makes  a 
strong  colony  at  once,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  being 
caught  with  a  number  of  weaklings  on  a  sudden  cessa- 


Vr^« »««••»«» 


fig-  92- — Caged  Queen-Cell. 

tion  of  the  harvest.  Each  new  colony  formed  will  in 
its  turn  soon  be  able  to  take  its  part  in  the  game  to  start 
still  others. 

SHAKING  BEES  OFF  COMBS. 


In  this  last  plan,  since  the  frames  of  brood  are  taken 
without  bees,  there  is  a  good  deal  to  be  done  in  the  way 
of  cleaning  bees  off  the  combs.  While  it  does  not  mat- 
ter if  a  few  bees  should  be  left  on  the  combs,  it  does  mat- 
ter greatly  that  care  be  taken  to  make  sure  that  the  qreen 
is  not  among  the  bees  taken.  So  it  is  well  to  brush  the 
combs  tolerably  clean,  and  then  one  can  easily  see 
whether  the  queen  is  present.  Before  brushing,  how- 
ever, most  of  the  bees  should  be  shaken  off,  for  if  tliis 
is  rightly  done  it  will  lea  saving  of  time. 


274  FIFTY  YEARS    A:M0NG  THE  BEES 

FIXAL  TAKING  OFF  OF  SECTIONS. 

When  the  time  comes  that  the  bees  are  expected  to 
do  no  more  work  in  the  sections,  whether  that  be  im- 
mediately at  the  close  of  the  clover  harvest  or  later,  the 
supers  with  their  sections  are  all  brought  home  and  piled 
up  in  the  honey-room.  On  some  accounts  it  is  better  if 
the  sections  can  be  taken  out  of  the  supers  at  once  and 
taken  care  of,  and  on  other  accounts  it  is  better  they 
should  stand  for  some  time.  It  is  a  very  difficult  thing 
to  scrape  the  bee-glue  from  sections  while  the  weather  is 
still  hot,  and  as  disagreeable  as  it  is  difficult.  There  may 
be  some  unsealed  cells  of  honey  in  the  o'/.ter  cells  of  some 
sections,  and  this  will  have  little  chance  to  evaporate  if 
it  is  thin,  after  the  sections  are  in  the  shipping-cases.  So 
the  sections  are  likely  to  stand  for  some  Lime  in  the  supers 
after  all  are  taken  ofif,  being  blocked  up  as  in  Fig.  T9. 

FUMIGATING    SECTIONS. 

Formerly  it  was  necessary  to  fumigate  the  sections 
with  sulphur  after  they  were  brought  into  the  house,  i"he 
fumigation  being  repeated  two  or  three  weeks  later.  I 
suppose  I  should  now  prefer  bisulphide  of  carbon  to 
sulphur  for  fumigation,  but  for  several  years  I  have  not 
found  it  necessary  to  fumigate.  Formerly  the  larvae  of 
the  bee-moth  would  make  bad  work  if  fumigation  were 
omitted,  and  sometimes  in  spite  of  it,  but  now  there  is 
no  trouble.  I  don't  know  what  makes  the  difference,  un- 
less it  be  that  formerly  there  was  so  large  a  per  cent  of 
blaok  blood  in  my  bees. 

When  the  time  does  come  for  taking  the  sections  all 
out  of  the  suiters,  the  work  is  gone  at  in  earnest  and  con- 
tinued until  all  the  nnrketable  sections  ?re  in  their  ship- 
ping-cases ready  for  market.  Tt  will  be  understood  that 
all  supers  taken  off  before  the  last,  have  been  handled  as 
heretofore  mentioned,  the  marketable  sections  having  all 
been  piled  up  in  the  honey-room  and  the  others  returned 
as  "go-backs,"  and  the  last  lot    taken  off'  will  consist  of 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


275 


every  sort,  from  foundation  untouched  by  the  bees  up  to 
sections  entirely  filled  and  sealed. 


SORTIXG    THE    SECTIOXS. 


Philo  sorts  the  sections  into  four  classes  as  he  takes 
them  out,  although  some  supers  are  assigned  to  one  class 
or  another  without  being  taken  out,  because  all  in  the 
super  are  of  one  kind.     One  lot  consists  of  dry  sections, 


I-ig.  9-/. — I'acated  Qiieen-CcUs. 


or  those  in  which  the  foundation  either  has  not  been 
touched  by  the  bees,  or  else  has  been  drawn  out  so  little 
that  no  drop  of  honey  has  been  put  in  it.  These  are  put 
in  a  pile  by  themselves. 


FEEDER   SECTIONS. 


The  second  lot  consists  of  those  which  have  just  a 
few  drops  of  honey  in  them,  up  to  those  which  are  not 
more  than  half  filled.  Some  entire  supers  will  be  as- 
signed to  the  first  or  second  lot  without  being  taken  out 


276  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  TliE  BEES 

of  the  super  at  all.  When  a  super  feels  pretty  light,  it  is 
inspected  with  some  care  by  looking  through  it  from  the 
under  side.  If  it  is  found  that  there  is  no  honey  in  any 
section  in  the  super,  it  goes  to  the  dry  pile  without  any 
taking  out.  If  there  is  honey  in  the  super,  but  no  sec- 
tion in  it  more  than  half  filled,  it  goes  to  the -second  pile 
without  being  emptied,  even  if  there  is  only  one  section 
in  the  super  containing  any  honey,  and  that  section  hav- 
ing only  a  few  drops. 

BEES  EMPTYING  SECTIONS. 

The  supers  of  sections  in  this  second  pile  are  called 
"feeders,"  because  the  honey  in  them  is  to  be  fed  back  to 
the  bees  (Fig.  96).  Usually  this  feeding  is  not  done 
until  all  the  "feeders"  are  ready  for  the  bees.  They  are 
taken  into  the  shop  cellar,  and  if  there  are  only  a  few 
of  them  they  are  put  in  piles  bee-tight  with  an  opening  at 
the  top  and  another  at  the  bottom  only  large  enough  for 
one  or  two  bees  to  pass  at  a  time.  If  the  numV.er  of 
supers  is  sufficiently  large,  say  half  as  large  as  the  num- 
ber of  colonies  in  the  home  apiary,  then  the  supers  are  set 
singly  all  around  against  the  wall  of  the  cellar  so  as  to 
make  them  as  easily  accessible  to  the  bees  as  possible. 
When  there  are  only  a  few  sections,  if  the  bees  have  free 
access  to  them  they  will  tear  the  combs  to  pieces. 

When  all  the  "feeders''  are  in  the  cellar,  then  the 
door  is  opened  wide,  and  the  bees  help  themselves.  The 
reasons  for  having  these  "feeders"  in  the  cellar  rather 
than  outdoors  are,  first,  that  I  want  to  keep  the  bees  away 
from,  them  until  the  whole  of  them  are  ready  for  the  at- 
tack ;  second,  that  in  the  cellar  they  are  safe  from  the 
rain.  The  best  of  these  emptied  "feeders"  furnish  "baits" 
for  the  following  season. 

UNAIARKETABLE  SECTIONS. 

The  third  pile  Philo  makes  consists  of  those  which 
are    more    than    half    filled    with    honey,    but    net    good 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  ^77 

enough  to  be  marketable  (Fig.  9T).  This  pile  is  never 
very  large,  and  is  easily  gotten  rid  of  at  home,  together 
with  some  help  from  relatives.  Some  of  it  will  make  as 
fine  appearance  as  any  honey  when  placed  on  the  table, 
although  the  under  side  on  the  plate  may  have  too  many 
unsealed  and  unfilled  cells  to  admit  it  into  the  marketable 
class.  There  may  also  be  some  broken  sections,  for  sec- 
tions have  a  fashion  of  falling  with  half  a  chance. 


Fig.   95. — Miller  Frame. 
BEES  CLEAXIXG  DAUBY  SECTIONS. 

Sometimes  it  happens  that  a  section  otherwise  good 
IF  spoiled,  and  badly  spoiled,  in  appearance,  by  having 
honey  from  some  section  above  leak  all  over  one  or  both 
of  its  faces,  ^fiss  \\^ilson  hit  upon  a  plan  for  having 
srch  sections  cleaned  up  in  short  order,  and  with  very 
little  trouble.  She  puts  them  in  a  super,  puts  the  super 


278  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

over  a  colony  of  bees,  and  an  hour  later,  if  the  bees  are 
active,  they  are  taken  from  the  hive  as  good  as  new. 

The  rest  of  the  sections  that  do  not  go  into  one  of 
these  three  piles  are  merchantable  sections.  That  makes 
four  kinds  into  which  Philo  sorts  them,  and  you  will  see 
that  it  is  possible  out  of  one  super  to  take  sections  that 
will  go  into  all  four  of  the  piles.  Of  course  there  is  al- 
ways standing  a  super  ready  for  any  odd  sections  of  each 
kind,  that  is,  a  super  for  dry  sections,  another  for  "feed- 
ers," etc. 

FIRST   PART   OF   CLEANING   SECTIONS. 

Having  now  told  how  Philo  sorts  the  sections,  let 
me  further  tell  what  he  does  with  them.  WTien  he 
comes  to  a  super  that  does  not  go  entire  to  the  first  or  the 
second  pile,  the  sections  are  taken  out  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed on  previous  pages,  leaving  the  contents  of  the 
super  upside  down  on  a  board.  The  T  tins  are  lifted 
ofif,  and  any  sections  that  are  not  marketable  are  picked 
ofif  and  their  places  supplied  with  those  that  are  market- 
able. Then  the  super  that  was  taken  from  them  is  re- 
placed by  a  box  without  top  or  bottom,  that  is,  it  is  much 
like  the  super,  only  it  is  perhaps  an  inch  longer,  an  inch 
wider,  and  an  inch  shallower  than  a  T  super,  the  exact 
size  not  being  important.  A  piece  of  board  is  wedged 
into  one  side,  and  another  into  one  end,  so  as  to  hold  the 
sections  firmly  in  place  (Fig.  98).  A  case-knife  with 
the  whole  length  of  its  edge  held  at  right  angles  to  the 
sections  sweeps  back  and  forth,  and  when  this  has  made 
the  surface  fairly  clean,  Xo.  2  sandpaper  is  used.  A  cab- 
inet-maker's scraper  is  better  than  a  case-knife  while  it  is 
sharp,  but  is  harder  to  keep  sharp.  Then  a  board  similar 
to  the  one  under  the  sections  is  laid  on  top,  and  with  one 
hand  under  the  under  board  and  the  other  over  the  upper 
board  he  turns  the  whole  upside  down,  the  super  resting 
on  one  end  on  the  table  as  he  turns  it  over.  The  knife 
and  sandpaper  now  do  their  work  on  the  tops  of  the  sec- 
tions.   Then  the  wedges  are  taken  out.  the  box  removed, 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  279 

and  the  boardful  of  sections  is  slid  along  the  table  to 
the  one  who  is  scraping.  This  table,  which  is  very  con- 
venient, is  8  ft.  long,  and  3  ft.  9  in.  wide. 

FIXAL    SCRAPING   OF    SECTIONS. 

^liss  \Vilson  generally  does  all  the  scraping ;  that  is, 
all  the  scraping  besides  what  Philo  has  done,  and  some- 
times his  part,  as  in  Fig.  98.  She  sometimes  scrapes  on 
a  board  on  her  lap,  but  nsnally  on  one  of  the  small  tables 
heretofore  mentioned  (Fig.  99).  If  the  section  should 
rest  upon  the  table,  the  knife  used  in  scraping  could  not 
freely  reach  the  lowest  parts,  so  a  loose  block  lies  on  the 
board,  on  which  the  sections  rest.  Another  advantage  of 
the  block  is  that  the  accumulation  of  propolis  is  not  so 
much  in  the  way.  The  size  of  this  block  is  not  material ; 
it  may  be  an  inch  thick,  four  inches  long  or  longer,  and 
two  inches  wide  or  wdder.  The  block  could  be  nailed 
down,  but  it  is  more  convenient  to  have  it  loose,  so  as  to 
scrape  the  propolis  off  the  table  from  time  to  time.  The 
scrapTTigS  nave  generally  been  thrown  away,  but  with  a 
steam  wax-press  it  may  pay  well  to  get  the  wax  out  of  it. 
Possibly  propolis  may  yet  be  a  marketable  commodity. 

The  knife  used  is  a  steel  case-knife  kept  very  sharp. 
The  sides  and  edges  of  the  sections  are  to  be  scraped, 
and,  if  necessary,  sandpaper  follows  the  knife.  The  fin- 
ishing touches  are  put  on  Philo's  work,  knife-marks,  pen- 
cil-marks, and  any  discolored  spots  being  carefully  re- 
moved. 

A  scraper  should  be  a  careful  person,  or  in  ten  min- 
utes' time  he  w411  do  more  damage  than  his  day's  w^ork  is 
worth.  Even  a  careful  person  seems  to  need  to  spoil  at 
least  one  section,  before  taking  the  care  necessary  to 
avoid  injuring  others.  But  w^hen  the  knife  makes  an 
ugly  gash  in  the  face  of  a  beautiful  w^hite  section  of 
honey,  that  settles  it  that  care  will  be  taken  afterward. 

PACKING   SECTIONS    IN   SHIPPING-CASES. 

The  scraper  has  in  easy  reach  two  shipping-cases. 
In  one.  as  fast  as  they  are  scraped,  are  put  all  sections 


280  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

that  are  not  in  any  way  faulty,  snch  as  appear  in  Fig. 
100.  In  the  oth^ii  are  put  any  which  are  a  Httle  off  color, 
either  as  to  comb  or  honey,  or  which  have  some  cells  un- 
sealed. These  must  be  sold  as  second-class  at  a  reduc- 
tion of  about  2  cents  a  pound.  In  Fig.  101  are  shown 
six  such  sections,  the  upper  three  having  the  best  side 
out  and  the  lower  three  having  the  poorest  side  out. 

KIND    OF    SHIPPING-CASES. 

For  some  years  I  used  double-tier  shipping-cases 
holding  twenty-four  sections  each,  the  upper  tier  resting 
on  a  little  board  supported  by  two  other  little  boards,  so 
that  no  weight  came  upon  the  lower  tier.  A  pile  of  such 
cases  showed  a  greater  proportion  of  honey  in  its  surface 
than  a  pile  of  single-tier  cases,  and  for  this  reason  I  liked 
it,  but  it  was  odd  goods,  and  so  I  changed  to  single-tier 
cases.  I  have  used  mostly  the  twelve-section  case,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  102.  But  please  do  not  think  that  all  my 
honey  looks  as  well  as  that  in  Fig.  102.  The  specimens 
in  Fig.  100  are  fairer  samples,  although  they  are  pos- 
sibly a  little  below  the  mark. 

I  have  used  some  single-tier  cases  holding  twenty- 
four  sections  (Fig.  103).  These  are  not  so  nice  and 
firm  to  handle  as  the  smaller  cases,  but  it  costs  less  to 
pack  a  ton  of  honey  in  the  larger  than  in  the  smaller 
cases.  Grocers  who  sell  by  the  case  are  inclined  to  pre- 
fer the  larger  case,  for  they  say  a  customer  who  buys  a 
case  at  a  time  will  as  readily  bu}^  a  twenty-four-section 
case  as  a  twelve-section  case. 

In* the  year  1910  I  got  some  double-tier  twenty-four- 
section  cases  that  seem  to  have  become  regular  goods, 
and  I  like  them.  Corrugated  paper  rests  on  the  bottom 
of  the  case,  and  also  between  the  two  tiers  of  sections. 
The  slide  covers  I  thought  I  would  not  like,  but  as  in 
many  another  case  I  was  mistaken,  for  they  work  nicely, 
and  it  is  a  convenience  not  to  have  to  nail  on  the  covers. 


bIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


2»1 


VENEERING. 


The  most  difficult  thing  about  the  packing  is  to  pre- 
vent veneering.  It  seems  to  come  so  natural,  when  a 
particularly  white  and  straight  section  goes  into  the  case, 


Fig.   96. — Feeder-Sections. 

to  put  it  next  the  glass,  best  side  out  at  that.  But  it  is 
especially  desirable  that  the  outside  shall  be  a  fair  index 
of  the  entire  contents  of  the  case.  In  the  long  run  there 
is  money  to  be  made  by  it,  to  say  nothing  of  the  feeling 
of   satisfaction. 


HONEY-SHOW. 

\\'hen  the  cases  are  filled  and  weighed,  they  are 
stacked  up  in  piles,  and  these  piles  are  mostly — perhaps 
always — so  arranged  as  to  make  the  best  show  possible. 
There  is  no  object  in  this  beyond  the  pleasure  it  gives 
the  family  to  see  it  for  a  few  days,  perhaps  only  for  a 
day.  But  the  sight  is  a  beautiful  one  so  long  as  it  lasts, 
as  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  if  you  look  at  Fig.  104. 


282  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

PLACE   TO    KEEP    HONEY. 

I  have  sold  a  crop  of  honey  before  it  was  off  the 
hives  and  sometimes  T  have  kept  part  of  a  crop  over  till 
spring. 

In  any  case  the  honey  for  home  use  in  spring  must 
be  kept  over.  It  is  not  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to 
keep  it  through  the  wdnter  in  good  shape.  If  kept  cold 
it  is  apt  to  grannlate  or  candy,  as  it  is  usually  called.  If 
allowed  to  freeze,  the  combs  crack  and  look  bad,  and  in 
time  the  honey  oozes  out  of  the  cracks.  Honey  is  deli- 
quescent, absorbing  from  the  atmosphere  a  large  amount 
of  water  if  conditions  are  favorable.  Try  putting  some 
common  salt  in  a  place  where  you  think  of  keeping 
honey ;  if  the  salt  remains  dry,  so  would  honey.  But  a 
place  that  is  suitable  at  one  time  may  not  be  at  an- 
other. Years  ago  I  filled  the  back  end  of  the  honey- 
room  with  honey.  It  was  a  good  place  for  it ;  the  out- 
side walls  w^ere  thin  and  the  heat  of  the  sun  made  it  a  hot 
place.  When  cold  weather  came,  however,  it  was  a  bad 
place,  and  the  lower  sections  at  the  back  part — beautiful, 
snowy-white,  when  first  put  in — became  watery  and 
dark-looking.  A  fire  for  cooking  was  kept  in  the  ad- 
joining room,  and  although  there  seemed  but  very  little 
steam  in  the  air,  by  the  time  it  got  to  the  back  end  of  the 
room,  and  settled  to  the  lower  part,  there  was  enough  to 
spoil  hundreds  of  sections.  You  see,  warm  air  is  like 
a  sponge  to  take  up  moisture,  and  cold  squeezes  the 
rnoisture  out  of  it.  The  point  to  see  to,  then,  is  to  have 
no  air  coming  from  a  warmer  place  to  the  place  w^here 
the  honey  is.  I  would  sooner  risk  honey  in  a  kitchen 
with  a  hot  fire  and  plenty  of  steam,  than  in  a  room  with- 
out fire  and  with  a  door  partly  opened  into  a  sitting- 
room  where  no  water  or  steam  is  ever  kept.  Indeed,  a 
kitchen  is  quite  a  good  place  to  keep  honey,  the  higher 
up  the  better. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


283 


KEEPING    HOXEY    IX    GARRET. 

It  is  well  known  that  a  cellar,  except  in  particularly 
dry  localities,  is  atout  the  worst  place  in  which  to  keep 
honey ;  but  it  is  not  so  well  known  that  the  place  the 
farthest  removed  from  the  cellar — the  garret — is  one  of 
the  very  best  places.  ^ly  mother  kept  some  sections 
throughout  the  latter  part  of  summer  in  a  garret,  and 
after  enduring  the  freezing  of  the  following  winter  they 


P'g-  97- — Unmarketable  Sections. 


were  as  fine  as  when  first  put  there.  The  roasting  heat 
of  the  summer  in  that  garret  had  so  ripened  the  honey 
as  to  make  it  proof  against  injury  from  freezing. 

HOXEY  IX   CELLAR   WITH   FURXACE. 

I  just  spoke  of  a  cellar  as  a  poor  place  for  honey 
except  in  very  dry  climates.  But  a  furnace  in  a  cellar 
makes  a  big  difiference.  In  1902  a  furnace  was  put  in  my 
cellar.     Several  winters  since  then  I  have  piled  up  sec- 


:2S4  FIFTY  YFARS    AAIONG  THE  BEES 

tions  beside  the  furnace,  at  a  distance  of  1  to  4  feet  from 
it,  and  anything  better  could  hardly  be  desired. 

GRANULATED    HONEY. 

If  comb  honey  becomes  granulated  or  watery,  I 
know  of  no  way  to  restore  it.  If  for  home  use,  or  if  one 
happens  to  have  a  market  where  extracted  honey  sells 
for  a  good  price,  the  sections  may  be  put  in  stone  crocks 
slozuly  melted,  being  sure  it  is  not  overheated,  and  then 
when  cool,  the  cake  of  wax  may  1  e  lifted  off  the  honey. 

The  best  place  to  keep  comb  honey  is  also  the  best 
place  to  keep  extricted;  but  if  extracted  honey  becomes 
granulated  or  watery,  it  may  be  restored  to  its  former, 
or  even  a  better  condition.  If  thin  an:l  not  granulated, 
by  setting  it  en  the  reservoir  of  a  cook-stove  and  letting 
it  remain  days  enough,  it  will  become  thick.  I  suppose 
you  may  have  krown  this,  and  also  that  extracted  honey, 
when  granulated,  may  be  liquefied  by  slowly  heating,  but 
did  you  know  that  when  thin  honey  is  warmed  for  a  long 
time  the  flavor  is  improved?'  I  have  had  the  flavor  im- 
proved and  could  attribute  it  to  nothing  but  remaining  a 
couple  of  weeks  on  the  reservoir.  I  do  not  mean  by  this 
that  if  fine-flavored  honey  in  good  condition  is  placed  on 
the  stove  reservoir  it  will  be  improved.  Most  people, 
however,  who  have  had  much  to  do  wdth  honey,  must 
have  noticed  that  when  extracted  honey  becomes  thin 
from  attracting  moisture  from  the  atmosphere,  it  seems 
to  acquire  a  dififerent  flavor — perhaps  I  might  say  it  has 
a  sharp  taste — and  the  slow  heating  seems  to  restore  it 
partly  if  not  wholly  to  its   former  condition. 

RIPENING    HONEY. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  honey  which  is  taken 
thin  from  the  hive,  not  yet  having  been  brought  to  proper 
density  by  the  bees. 

There  is  a  difiference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  honey, 
or   perhaps    nectar,    evaporated   outside   of   the   hive,    is 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


equal  to  that  which  remains  in  the  hive  till  thick.  Of 
course,  no  large  amount  could  be  evaporated  on  a  stove 
reservoir.  Some  bee-keepers  have  large  tanks  in  which 
to  evaporate  honey  by  the  sun  or  other  heat. 

It   must   not   be   understood   that   when   honey   has 
reallv  soured  it  can  be  made  good  by  the  process  men- 


Fig.  98. — Sections  ]]' edged  for  Scraping. 


tioned.     The  onlv  thing  is  to  use  it  for  vinegar;  and  fine 
vinegar  it  will  make. 


DRAINING  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 


There  is  another  plan  which  I  have  used  to  secure- 
some  extra-fine  extracted  honey  for     our     private     use.. 


286  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

Whether  it  conk!  be  used  profitably  on  a  large  scale,  I 
cannot  say.  There  are.  however,  always  people  who  are 
ready  to  pay  a  high  price  for  an  extra  article.  xAfter  a 
crock  of  clover  honey  has  granulated,  I  turn  it  on  its 
side  or  upside  down.  ?nd  let  it  remain  days  eriOLigh  to 
drain  off  all  the  liquid  part.  If  drained  long  enough, 
the  residue — and  this  will  be  nearly  all  the  crockful — wall 
be  as  drv  as  sugar,  and  when  this  is  liquefied  by  slow 
heating  it  makes  a  deliciors  article.  It  wnll,  however, 
granulate  very  easily  a  second  time.  On  a  larger  scale, 
the  liquid  might  be  drained  off  by  boring  a  hole  at  the 
lower  part  of  a  barrel  of  granulated  honey.  I  spoke  of 
treating  clover  honey  in  this  way  ;  I  do  not  know^  what 
other  kinds  may  be  treated  the  same  way,  but  I  ha\''e  had 
some  graulated  honey  of  smooth,  even  texture,  from 
v.hich  no  liquid  part  could  be  drained.  \Adien  set  to 
drain,  the  whole  mass  would  roll  slowly  out. 

MARKETING   HOXEY. 

I  have  had  no  uniform  w^ay  of  marketing  honey.  I 
should  prefer  in  all  cases  to  sell  the  crop  outright  for 
cash,  if  I  could  get  a  satisfactory  price  ;  but  some  years 
I  can  do  better  to  sell  on  commission.  Judgment  must 
be  used  as  to  limiting  commission-men  to  a  certain  price. 
Some  commission-men  wnll  sell  off  promptly  at  any  price 
offered,  and  when  sending  to  such  men  it  is  best  to  name 
a  certain  figure,  below  w^hich  the  honey  must  not  be  sold. 
I  liave  sold  in  itiY  home  market,  as  well  as  in  towms  near 
by,  and  have  shipped  to  nine  of  the  principal  cities,  and  it 
w^ould  be  an  impossibility  for  me  to  say  what  would  be 
my  best  market  next  year.  Prices  vary  according  to  the 
yield  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  If  shipping  to 
a  distant  point  in  cold  w^eather,  I  keep  up  a  hot  fire  to 
w^arm  the  honey  twenty-four  hours  before  shipping.  If 
verv  cold  I  w^ait  for  a  warm  spell. 

LOADING    SECTIONS    \VHEN    SHIPPING. 

On  a  wagon,  the  length  of  a  section  should  run 
across  the  wagon — on  a  car  lengthwise  of  the  car.     Con- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMOXG  THE  BEES 


287 


venience  of  packing  in  a  wagon,  however,  is  of  first  con- 
sideration, for  with  careful  driving  it  matters  httle  which 
way  the  sections  are  placed.  On  the  other  hand,  no  mat- 
ter what  the  inconvenience,  I  would  have  the  sections  in 
a  railroad  car  so  that  when  a  heavy  bump  comes  the  sec- 


Fig.  (,g. — Sir  J  ping  Sections. 


tions  must  tike  it  endwise.  I  always  prefer,  if  possible, 
to  load  the  honey  directly  into  the  car  myself.  Then  I 
know  that  it  will  carry  well,  unless  the  engine  does  an 
unreasonable  amount  of  bumping. 

PACKING  SECTIONS   IN   A   CAR. 

Very  likely  a  number  of  cases  of  honey  packed  in 
a  crate  do  not  need  any  special  care  in  loading ;  but  if  I 


2S8  FIFTY  YEARS    A^^IOXG  THE  BEES 

can  make  sure  that  the  honey  will  go  through  to  its 
destination  without  any  reloading,  I  prefer  to  put  the 
cases  in  the  car  one  by  one.  If  the  number  of  cases  is  so 
small  that  there  is  no  need  to  pile  one  case  on  another, 
then  the  cases  are  put  in  one  end  of  the  car  and  kept  in 
place  by  a  stri]:)  of  common  inch  lumber  naile  1  on  the 
floor.  If  there  are  enough  cases  so  they  must  be  tiered 
up,  then  the  lower  tier  has  a  strip  nailed  on  the  floor  as 
before,  but  each  of  the  upper  tiers  is  fastened  differently. 
On  each  side  of  the  car  is  nailed  a  cleat  to  support  a 
fence-board  which  runs  across  the  width  of  the  car,  rest- 
ing flat  like  a  shelf  on  these  cleats.  Another  cleat  is 
nailed  on  the  side  of  the  car  over  the  board,  so  it  can 
move  neither  up  nor  down.  The  board  is  rp  tight 
against  the  cases,  perhaps  a  little  above  their  middle. 
Then  a  third  cleat  is  nailed  on  each  side  of  the  car  against 
the  board  to  prevent  the  board  from  moving  in  the  least. 
If  there  is  a  space  at  the  side  of  the  car,  straw  is 
packed  hard  into  it  beside  the  cases.  If  the  space  is  very 
small,  pieces  of  old  wooden  separators  may  be  wedged 
in.  Newspapers  are  laid  on  the  bottom  of  the  car  under 
the  cases,  and  newspapers  tacked  on  top  of  them. 

HOME  MARKET. 

Much  has  been  said  about  cultivating  a  home  mar- 
ket, but  there  are  two  sides  to  the  matter.  If  bee-keepers 
from  neighboring  towns  come  in  and  supply  my  home 
market  at  2  cents  per  pound  less  than  my  honey  nets  me 
\vhen  shipped  to  a  distant  market,  about  all  I  can  do  is 
to  leave  the  home  market  in  their  hands.  I  suspect,  how- 
ever, that  it  would  have  been  to  my  advantage  to  have 
paid  more  attention  to  developing  my  home  market  for 
extracted  honey. 

HOME   VERSUS   DISTANT    MARKET. 

In  deciding  between  a  home  and  a  distant  market, 
there  are  more  things  to  be  tgken  into  consideration  than 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


289 


are  always  thought  of.  There  is  breakage  in  transporta- 
tion, and  the  greater  the  distance  the  greater  the  risk. 
If  I  can  load  my  honey  into  a  car  myself,  and  it  goes  to 
its  destination  without  change  of  cars,  I  do  not  feel  very 
anxious  about  it.  On  this  account  a  car-load  is  safer 
than  a  small  quantity,  for  a  full  car-load  may  be  sent  al- 
most any  distance  without  re-shipping.  If  re-shipped,  it 
is  not  at  all  certain  how  it  will  be  packed  in  a  car.     I 


«. 


I 


M^.^^    .-li.i,. 


Fig.  100. — Sections  Ready  for  Casing. 


once  sent  a  lot  of  honey  to  Cincinnati,  and  when  it  ar- 
rived at  its  destination,  the  sections  were  actually  lying 
on  their  sides !  I  suppose  the  railroad  hands  who  packed 
it  in  the  car  at  the  last  change,  thought  the  glass  was 
safest  from  breaking  if  the  case  was  put  glass  side  down. 
The  strangest  part  about  it  was  that  I  lost  nothing  by 
the  breakage.  The  dogged  persistence  of  a  German 
consignee  obliged  the  railroad  company  to  pay  all  dam- 
age ;  for  the  consignee  was  that  staunch  German  and 
genial  friend  of  bee-keepers — the  late  C.  F.  Muth.     It  is 


290  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

the  only  case  in  which  I  have  known  a  railroad  company 
to  pay  for  breakage  of  honey. 

There  is  less  danger  of  breakage  by  freight  than  by 
express.  Besides  danger  of  breakage,  there  is  risk  of 
losing  in  various  ways.  You  may  not  be  able  to  collect 
pay  for  your  honey.  If  sent  on  commission,  the  price 
obtained  may  be  less  than  the  published  market  report. 
You  have  no  means  generally  to  know  how  correct  the 
claims  for  breakage  may  be.  In  fact,  unless  you  know 
your  consignee  to  be  a  thoroughly  honest  man,  you  are 
almost  entirely  at  his  mercy.  A  quarter  or  half  a  pound 
may  be  taken  off  each  case  by  the  claim  that  it  is  custom 
to  reject  fractions. 

PRICES   IX    HOME   AND  DISTANT    MARKET. 

Taking  all  these  things  into  consideration,  together 
with  the  cost  of  freight  and  shipping-cases,  it  must  be 
a  good  price  that  will  justify  a  man  to  '^hip  off  honey  to 
the  neglect  of  his  home  market.  If  shipped  to  be  sold 
on  commission,  provided  he  ships  to  a  near  market,  the 
price  should  be  at  least  2i4  cents  per  pound  more  than  he 
can  get  in  his  home  market,  to  justify  his  shipping.  If 
he  ships  to  a  distant  market  the  difference  should  be  still 
more,  as  the  additional  freight  may  make  a  difference 
of  1  cent  per  pound  or  more,  and  the  risk  of  breakage 
becomes  greater. 

Not  always,  however,  must  I  be  willing  to  sell  in  my 
home  market  for  less  than  I  can  get  abroad.  If  there  is 
a  year  of  dead  failure  in  my  locality,  or  so  nearly  a  fail- 
ure that  the  home  market  must  be  at  least  partly  supplied 
from  elsewhere,  then  I  should  get  more  for  my  honey 
than  the  grocers  will  have  to  pay  in  the  large  city  mar- 
kets, for  they  must  add  freight  to  the  price  they  pay 
there. 

FALL  FEEDING. 

Some  seasons  are  so  poor  that  the  bees  do  not  get 
enough  throughout    the     whole     season   to     carry   them 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


201 


through  the  winter.  One  year  I  took  no  snrpkis,  and  fed 
2,80U  pounds  of  granulated  sugar  for  winter  stores. 
Some  years  the  clover  crop  will  be  a  failure,  but  plenty 
of  stores  will  be  gathered  later  in  the  season  to  carry  the 
bees  over  winter.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  tell  in  advance 
just  what  will  be,  but  it  is  best  to  err  on  the  safe  side  ;  and 
it  is  no  harm  to  have  more  stores  on  hand  than  are 
actually  needed.      It  is   also  better  to  have   the   feeding 


■wyi"g'iMiH|| 


Fi^.   loi. — Second-Class  Sections. 


done  early.  If  the  feed  is  given  so  early  that  it  can  be 
given  thin  enough,  the  bees  make  chemical  changes  in 
it  that  make  it  better  for  winter. 


FEEDING    SYRUP. 


Formerly  I  did  not  take  this  into  account,  and  syrup 
was  prepared  that  approached  the  consistency  of  honey. 
Water  was  put  in  a  vessel  on  the  stove,  and  when  at  or 
near  the  boiling-point  granulated  sugar  was  slowly 
stirred  in  at  the  rate  of  five  pounds  of  sugar  to  a  quart 


292  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

of  water.  When  the  sugar  was  about  dissolved,  an  even 
teaspoonful  of  tartaric  acid  for  every  twenty  pounds  of 
sugar,  previously  dissolved  in  water,  was  stirred  into  the 
syrup,  for  without  the  acid  the  syrup  is  likely  to  turn 
into  sugar  in  the  combs  when  fed  so  thick.  If  I  were  to 
feed  late  in  September,  or  in  October,  I  think  I  should 
prefer  the  same  syrup  now. 

FEEDING    EARLY    FOR    WINTER. 

But  by  feeding  in  August  or  early  in  September  the 
work  can  be  made  much  easier,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
food  will  be  better  for  the  bees.  For  they  will  so  manip- 
ulate the  thin  feed  given  theni  that  no  acid  will  be 
needed,  making  their  winter  stores  much  more  like  the 
stores  they  obtain  from  the  flowers.  There  is  nothing 
complicated  about  the  feeding,  and  there  is  not  the  same 
trouble  with  robbers  as  when  syrup  is  made.  First,  the 
feeders  are  all  put  on,  and  left  standing  uncovered.  Then 
the  amount  of  sugar  needed  in  each  feeder  is  put  in  dry, 
whether  that  be  two  pounds  or  fifteen  pounds.  Then 
I  go  around  to  each  feeder,  and,  making  a  depression  in 
the  center  of  the  sugar,  put  in  half  a  pint  or  more  of 
water.  I  do  this  rather  than  to  put  in  the  full  quota  of 
water  at  first,  because  in  the  latter  case  it  is  possible  that 
the  water  would  force  its  way  into  the  reach  of  the  bees 
without  having  much  sweetness  in  it,  for  I  forgot  to  say 
that  I  use  the  Miller  feeder.  I  am  not  sure  that  this  pre- 
caution is  necessary,  but  it  can  do  no  harm.  I  now  go 
around  and  put  in  each  feeder  about  as  much  water  as 
will  balance  the  sugar,  counting  either  by  pints  or  pounds. 
Of  course,  if  twelve  pounds  or  more  of  sugar  should  be  in 
the  feeder,  it  will  be  impossible  to  balance  the  sugar  with 
water.  In  that  case  I  put  in  all  the  water  I  can.  Next 
day  or  so  the  liquid  will  be  used  out,  and  I  can  fill  up 
again.  Indeed,  in  many  cases  where  equal  parts  of  sugar 
and  water  are  given,  the  water  will  be  mostly  out  by  the 
next  day,  leaving  only  damp  sugar  in  the  feeder,  and 
more  water  must  be  added.     Practically,  this  is  giving 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  293 

the  feed  very  thin,  and  I  suspect  it  is  all  the  better.  I 
have  never  had  any  trouble  from  robber-bees  while  leav- 
ing the  feeders  open  in  the  way  mentioned,  of  course 
covering  up  as  soon  as  water  is  all  in  ;  although  I  have 
had  trouble  by  leaving  a  cover  on  a  feeder  that  was  not 
bee-tight,  and  with  such  a  cover  it  is  better  first  to  put 
on  a  cover  of  cotton  cloth  that  hangs  down  all  around. 

SELECTING  COLONIES  TO  FEED, 

I  have  spoken  as  if  a  feeder  was  put  over  each  col- 
ony lacking  stores.  That  is  by  no  means  always  the 
case — indeed,  not  often  the  case.  There  are  reasons 
why  it  is  better  to  have  a  comparatively  small  number  of 
colonies  do  the  storing,  taking  sealed  combs  from  these 
to  give  to  the  weaker  ones.  It  is  a  good  deal  less  trouble, 
when  the  feeding  is  begun  in  good  season,  to  have  one 
colony  store  enough  for  five  or  ten  others  besides  itself 
than  it  is  to  have  feeders  on  all  of  the  five  or  ten  colonies. 
Some  colonies  will  store  better  than  others,  and  the  best 
can  be  chosen. 

FEEDING  IN  FALL  FOR  SPRING. 

For  some  reason,  bees  seem  to  store  from  a  feeder 
much  better  late  in  the  season  than  they  do  before  the 
harvest  time.  The  greater  strength  of  the  colonies  and 
the  warmer  weather  would  make  one  expect  a  difference, 
but  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  there  was  more  dif- 
ference than  could  be  accounted  for  without  some  other 
reason.  So  it  is  desirable  at  this  time  to  have  not  only 
enough  combs  filled  to  bridge  over  the  winter,  but  to 
supply  any  possible  deficiency  up  to  the  harvest  time. 

An  upper  story  of  empty  combs  is  put  on,  possibly 
two.  As  fast  as  combs  are  completely  filled  and  sealed 
they  can  be  removed  and  replaced  by  empty  ones.  If  it 
is  desired  to  have  combs  filled  out  upon  foundation,  beau- 
tiful work  will  be  done  upon  them  in  these  upper  stories. 
It  will  easily  be  seen  that  it  is  less  trouble  to  add  sugar 


294  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

from  time  to  time  as  needed,  also  to  add  water  as  needed, 
than  it  is  to  apportion  the  smaller  amounts  to  a  number 
of  colonies.  No  great  matter  if  too  much  or  too  little 
of  one  or  the  other  is  present ;  the  thing  will  regulate  it- 
self. For  with  cold  water  there  is  no  danger  of  the  fee  1 
being  too  thick,  and  all  the  harm  of  too  large  a  propor- 
tion of  sugar  is  that  the  bees  will  have  to  wait  for  more 
water  when  it  is  too  dr}'  to  give  down.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  will  continue  taking  it  down  when  it  is  much 
thinner  than  half-and-half,  and  perhaps  it  is  all  the  better 
manipulated  when  very  thin. 

Perhaps  it  would  do  as  well  to  feed  as  described 
under  wholesale  feeding  in  spring,  but  in  that  case  I 
should  want  the  feed  quite  thin,  and  there  would  be  more 
danger  from  robbers,  and  more  danger  of  having  thin 
feed  left  in  the  feeders  to  sour. 

DIFFICULTY    IX    DECIDING   ABOUT    STORESV 

It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  determine  just  what 
amount  of  stores  is  needed  to  carry  a  colony  through  to 
the  next  harvest.  Some  colonies  use  more  than  others 
under  apparently  the  same  conditions.  Experience  will 
enable  one  to  judge  fairly  well  by  inspection  as  to  the 
amount  of  stores  present,  but  one  can  be  more  exact 
about  it  by  actual  weighing.  Besides,  with  proper  con- 
veniences for  it,  the  weighing  takes  less  time.  But  two 
colonies  may  weigh  exactly  the  same,  and  one  may  have 
.abundance  and  the  other  may  starve,  because,  although 
weighing  the  same,  one  had  much  more  honey  than  the 
other.  One  had  much  pollen,  the  other  little.  Or,  the 
combs  of  one  were  new,  and  the  combs  of  the  other  very 
old  and  heavy.  The  only  safe  way  is  to  have  all  so  heavy 
that  under  any  and  all  circumstances  there  will  be  no 
danger.  So  we  aim  to  have  each  hive  with  its  contents, 
its  cover,  and  its  bottom-board,  weigh  as  much  as  fifty 
pounds.  Some  will  weigh  so  much  more  than  this  that 
hefting  \\\\\  show  that  there  is  no  need  of  weighing.  Even 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


295 


a  strong  colony  that  stored  well  throughout  the  season  in 
a  prosperous  year  may  have  had  the  brood-chamber  so 
stocked  with  brood  that  not  enough  honey  was  in  the 
brood-chamber,  so  it  is  well  to  heft  and  weigh  even  in 
the  best  seasons,  and  to  do  this  late  enough  so  that  storing 
from  flowers  need  no  longer  be  taken  into  account,  and 


Fig.   102. — i2-Section   Shipping-Case. 

SO  early  that  there  will  be  abundance  of  time  for  the  bees 
to  arrange  matters  to  their  liking  in  the  brood-chamber. 

WEIGHING  COLONIES. 


A  common  spring  balance  with  a  capacity  of  eighty 
pounds  is  used  for  weighing  (Fig.  105).  An  endless 
rope  passes  around  the  hive  under  the  cleat  at  each  end, 
then  the  hook  of  the  spring  balance  passes  under  the  two 
parts  of  the  rope  over  the  hive,  and  the  slack  is  taken  up 
by  tying  a  string  around  the  two  parts  under  the  hook. 
A  hickory  stick  used  as  a  lever  passes  through  the  ring 


296  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

of  the  upper  part  of  the  spring  balance,  the  short  end  of 
the  lever  being  supported  by  a  light  frame- work  that 
stands  on  the  adjoining  hive.  When  all  is  properly  ad- 
justed, the  long  end  of  the  lever  is  raised,  and  the  weight 
is  read,  and  then  taken  down,  so  that  a  comb  or  combs 
may  be  added  to  bring  up  to  the  desired  weight.  If  no 
precaution  is  taken,  the  spring  balance,  when  first  raised, 
will  slide  on  the  lever  down  against  one's  hands  or  shoul- 
der. To  prevent  this  a  stout  string  has  one  end  tied  to 
the  short  end  of  the  lever,  and  the  other  end  tied  to  the 
ring  of  the  balance,  so  as  to  keep  it  within  bounds. 

RESERVE    COMBS    OF    HONEY. 

After  all  I  have  said  about  feeding,  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  since  about  the  time  of  the  coming  in  of  the  20th 
century  very  little  feeding  has  been  done.  ^lost  years 
not  a  feeder  is  put  on.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  increase 
of  fall  pasturage,  and  perhaps  in  some  degree  to  the  fact 
that  the  present  stock  of  bees  are  more  provident  than 
they  were  some  years  ago. 

In  spite  of  the  better  fall  feed,  some  colonies  in 
8-frame  hives  might  be  short  of  stores  before  the  white- 
honey  harvest.  To  meet  such  cases,  combs  filled  with 
sealed  honey  are  kept  in  reserve  from  the  previous  fall. 
These  reserve  combs  are  valuable  for  another  purpose. 
Left  to  themselves  the  bees  would  have  very  little  honey 
in  the  hives  at  the  opening  of  the  honey  harvest,  and  all 
vacancies  in  the  brood-chamber  must  be  filled  before 
honey  goes  into  the  supers.  Now  if  we  have  reserve 
combs  on  hand  from  the  previous  fall,  so  as  to  have  the 
brood-chamber  entirely  filled  with  brood  and  honev  ?t 
the  opening  of  the  harvest,  then  there  is  nothing  left  for 
the  bees  to  do  but  to  tote  the  first  honey  up-stairs,  instead 
of  waiting  for  the  brood-chamber  to  be  filled.  You  may 
ask  what  is  gained  by  merely  swapping  last  year's  honey 
for  honey  in  the  sections.  There  would  be  nothing  gained 
if   the    honey   in   the    reserve    combs    were    white-clover 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  297 

honey.  But  it  is  fall  honey ;  and  for  every  pound  of  fall 
honey  we  put  in  the  brood-chamber  we  get  back  a  pound 
of  white  honey  in  sections. 

So  I  like  to  have  one  or  two  reserve  combs  on  hand 
for  each  colony  in  the  spring.  These  reserve  combs  may 
be  obtained  by  taking  them  in  the  fall  from  colonies  that 
are  over-heavy,  giving  in  place  of  them  empty  combs  to 
be  again  filled,  or  upper  stories  may  be  given  filled  with 
combs. 

NUCLEI    IN    FALL. 

When  the  time  for  rearing  queens  is  over,  the  nuclei 
will  be  in  various  conditions.  Some  will  be  weak,  some 
strong,  some  queenless.  Here  will  be  a  nucleus  hive  con- 
taining three  strong  nuclei  with  a  good  laying  queen  in 
each  nucleus.  Nothing  is  to  be  done  in  such  a  case  but 
to  leave  the  three  nuclei  as  they  are,  to  be  carried  into  the 
cellar  without  any  further  preparation,  unless  it  be  to 
give  some  honey  if  it  be  needed.  In  the  case  of  the  mid- 
dle nucleus,  that  will  mean  exchanging  their  comb  for  one 
as  much  as  two-thirds  or  three-quarters  full  of  honey.  In 
the  nuclei  at  the  sides  of  the  hive,  the  heaviest  frames  of 
honey  will  be  toward  the  center  of  the  hive.  This  will  en- 
courage the  bees  to  cluster  in  that  direction,  thus  con- 
centrating the  warmth  of  the  three  nuclei. 

UNITING    NUCLEI. 

But  the  hives  with  three  strong  nuclei  and  three 
queens  will  be  exceptional.  Some  will  have  only  two 
queens,  some  one.  If  a  nucleus  hive  has  in  it  only  one 
queen,  it  may  be  that  a  full  hive  is  set  in  place  of  the  nu- 
cleus hive,  the  contents  of  the  three  apartments  of  the 
nucleus  hive  put  into  this  full  hive,  and,  if  necessary, 
enough  nuclei  added  from  elsewhere  to  make  a  fair  col- 
ony. If  none  of  the  nuclei  in  any  one  nucleus  hive  be 
sufficiently  strong  where  there  is  only  one  queen  in  the 
hive,  then  the  nucleus  with  the  queen  is  likely  to  be  put 


298 


FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 


in  some  nucleus  hive  that  has  contained  only  two  queens. 
In  some  cases  one  of  the  division-boards  is  taken  away, 
making  one  of  the  compartments  large  enough  to  receive 
five  frames,  besides  the  other  with  the  three  frames.  Thus 
the  nucleus  in  the  larger  compartment  may  be  built  up  to 
a  tolerably  fair  colony. 

Thus  you  will  see  that  there  is  little  or  no  destroying 
of  queens,  the  effort  being  to  have  each  queen  supported 


Fig.  103. — 24-Section  Case. 


by  a  good  force  of  bees,  considering  the  size  of  her  com- 
partment. No  attention  is  paid  to  the  matter  of  trying  to 
make  bees  stay  where  they  are  put.  If  they  don't  like  to 
stay  they  don't  need  to  ;  they'll  count  somewhere.  But  as 
they  are  mostly  queenless  bees  that  are  moved,  they  are 
not  bad  about  returning. 


DOUBLE  HIVES  FOR  WINTER. 


/ 


Not  only  have  I  wintered  nuclei  two  and  three  in  a 
hive,  but  a  few  years  ago  I  had  considerable  experience 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


29;> 


in  wintering  full  colonies  in  double  hives.  If  I  had  not 
changed  from  ten-frame  to  eight-frame  hives  I  should 
have  continued  the  practice,  but  an  eight-frame  hive 
makes  too  cramped  quarters  for  two  full  colonies,  even 
in  winter.  Still,  I  approximate  it  with  five  frames  on  o^ie 
side  and  three  on  the  other,  and  of  course  the  hive  could 
be  divided  to  take  four  frames  on  each  side. 

There  is  nothing  new  or  original  about  two  colonies 
in  one  hive,  among  others  Dzierzon's  twin  hives  having 


Fig.  104. — Honcy-Slici^' 


been  highly  esteemed  by  him  and  others  for  many  years. 
These,  however,  are  used  the  same  all  the  year  around. 
and  my  use  of  them  is  only  during  the  time  of  year  when 
bees  can  be  crowded  into  a  less  space  than  a  full  hive. 

From  the  time  the  bees  are  fed  in  the  summer  or  fall, 
till  perhaps  the  middle  of  May,  most  of  my  colonies  would 
have  room  enough  in  one-half  of  a  ten-frame  hive.  I  am 
not  sure  that  any  of  them  ever  need  more  room  through 
the  fall  and  winter,  and  in  the  spring  they  need  no  more 
till  more  than  four  frames  are  needed  for  brood.  With 
some,  this  may  come  quite  early,  but  I  think  I  should  be 


^00  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

well  satisfied  if  I  could  get  all  my  colonies  to  contain 
four  combs  well  filled  with  brood  by  the  middle  of  ]\Iay. 
Some  of  them  may  have  at  that  time  brood  in  nine  or 
ten  frames,  but  more  of  them  could  have  all  their  brood 
■crowded  into  three  or  four  combs. 

ADVANTAGE    OF    DOUBLE    HIVES.    >/ 

Now,  if  during  the  time  I  have  mentioned,  we  can 
have  two  colonies  in  one  hive,  we  shall,  I  think,  find  it 
advantageous  in  more  than  one  direction.  It  is  a  com- 
mon thing  for  bee-keepers  to  unite  two  weak  colonies 
in  the  fall.  Suppose  a  bee-keeper  has  two  colonies  in  the 
fall,  each  occupying  two  combs.  He  unites  them  so  they 
will  winter  better.  If  they  would  not  ciuarrel  and  would 
stay  wherever  they  were  put,  he  cor  Id  place  the  two 
frames  of  the  one  hive  beside  the  two  frames  in  the 
other  hive,  and  the  thing-  would  be  done.  Xow.  suppose 
that  a  thin  division-bo'^rd  were  placed  between  the  two 
sets  of  combs,  would  he  not  see  the  same  result?  Not 
quite,  I  think,  but  nearly  so.  They  would  hardly  be  so 
warm  as  without  the  division-board,  but  nearly  so  ;  and 
iDoth  cjueens  would  be  saved.  In  the  spring  it  is  de- 
sirable to  keep  the  bees  warm.  If  two  colonies  are  in 
one  hive,  with  a  thin  division-board  between  them,  they 
will  be  much  warmer  than  if  in  separate  hives.  The 
same  thing  is  true  in  winter.  I  have  had  weak  nuclei 
with  two  combs  come  through  in  good  condition  during 
a  winter  in  which  I  lost  heavily :  these  nuclei  having  no 
extra  care  or  protection  other  than  bein'^  in  a  do ible 
hive.  You  would  understand  the  reason  of  all  this  easily 
if  in  winter  you  would  look  into  one  of  these  double 
hives  in  the  cellar.  On  each  side  the  bees  are  clustered 
up  against  the  division-board,  and  it  looks  exactly  as  if 
the  bees  had  all  been  in  one  single  cluster,  and  then  the 
division-board  pushed  down,  through  the  center  of  the 
cluster. 

Now  suppose  we  have  100  colonies  that  are  all  fed 
up  for  winter  and  they  are  then  put  into  double  hives. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


301. 


Please  understand  that  there  is  Httle  or  no  extra  expense 
lor  these  double  hives.  They  are  just  the  regular  hives, 
only  we  take  special  pains  to  see  that  the  division-board 
is  perfectly  bee-tight.  If  the  hives  are  to  be  hauled 
home,  as  I  haul  mine  each  fall,  there  are  only  50  in- 
stead of  100  to  haul ;  just  half  the  bulk,  and  a  much  less 
weight  than  the  100  would  be.  Just  half  the  hives  are 
to  be  handled  in  taking  in  and  out  of  winter  quarters ; 


^ 


Fig.  105. — JVrigJiiug  Colonies. 


just  half  the  room  is  occupied  in  winter  quarters  ;  and  I 
think,  although  I  do  not  know,  that  the  bees  will  winter 
better  than  if  only  one  colony  in  a  hive.  If  they  are  to 
be  taken,  in  the  spring,  to  a  distant  apiary,  there  is  the 
advantage  of  hauling  only  50  hives  instead  of  100.  If, 
in  the  spring,  any  colony  be  found  queenless  it  is  in  fine 
position  to  be  united  with  its  fellow  colony. 

CHANGING    FROM    SINGLE    TO    DOUBLE    HIVES.    (/ 

Possibly  you  may  be  ready  to  agree  with  me  so  far 
as  to  sav,  "Certainlv,  the  thing  looks  desirable,  but  is  it 


302  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

feasible?  \\'ill  not  the  trouble  counterbalance  all  ad- 
vantage?"" I  know  it  is  usually  a  matter  of  some  trouble 
to  change  a  colony  from  one  location  to  another  in  the 
same  apiary.  I  think,  however,  that  I  have  reduced  the 
trouble  to  a  minimum.  I  will  give  you  my  plan  and  you 
can  judge  for  yourself. 

As  I  have  already  told  you,  my  hives  stand  in  pairs, 
and  I  kept  them  so,  years  before  I  thought  of  double 
hives.  Some  time  before  the  change  is  made  to  double 
hives,  the  entrances  of  the  hives  are  closed  at  one  side, 
so  that  the  bees  become  accustomed  to  using  the  same 
side  of  the  entrance  that  they  will  use  when  thrown  into 
the  double  hive,  that  is,  the  right  hand  colony  will  use 
the  right  hand  side  of  its  entrance,  and  the  left  hand  col- 
ony will  use  the  left  hand  side  of  its  entrance.  Each 
colony  will  have  four  of  its  combs  so  solid  with  honey 
that  it  will  be  well  provisioned. 

Remembering  that  the  two  colonies  of  a  pair  are  on 
the  same  stand,  we  now  remove  both  hives  from  the 
stand  and  set  the  double  hive  on  the  middle  of  the  stand. 
Then  the  four  combs  from  the  right  hand  hive  will  be 
put  with  their  bees  in  the  right  hand  side  of  the  double 
colony,  and  the  rest  of  the  bees  brushed  from  the  other 
combs.  The  left  hand  side  is  treated  the  same  way. 
Some  bees  will  still  be  left  in  the  depopulated  hives  ;  so 
these  hives  can  be  set  at  each  side,  the  entrance  of  the 
empty  hive  at  the  proper  entrance  of  the  double  hive,  and 
left  there  long  enough  for  the  bees  to  crawl  in  and  join 
their  companions. 

The  matter  is  now  accomplished  and  it  has  been  no 
long  or  difficult  job.  The  bees  use  the  new  entrance 
obiiost  as  readily  as  the  old.  To  them  their  hive  seems 
moved  less  than  its  width  to  one  side,  and  there  is  no 
possible  danger  of  their  entering  the  wrong  place.  I 
have  tried  it,  and  watched  the  result,  therefore  I  speak 
of  not  what  the  bees  ought  to  do,  but  what  they  do  do. 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


103 


CHAXGIXG  FROM  DOUBLE  TO  SINGLE  HIVES.    *^ 

Can  we  as  easily  get  them  back  into  two  hives  in 
the  spring  when  they  become  crowded  in  this  double 
hive?  Just  exactly  as  easily.  \\>  simply  reverse  the 
operation.  Take  the  double  hive  from  its  place  and  re- 
place it  with  the  two  hives,  then  remove  the  contents  of 


Mk.       l^ 

3^ 

I  MT' 

Haasl^ 

I 

•  i 

^-M 

F 

^^ 

fig.  io6. — Colonies  Home  from  Out-Apiaries. 

the  double  hive  and  put  them  in  the  proper  single  hives, 
and  the  bees  will  go  every  time  to  the  right  place.  I 
speak  again  from  personal  observation  as  to  what  the 
bees  actuallv  do. 


BRINGIXG  BEES   HOME  IX   THE   FALL. 

In  the  fall,  the  bees  must  be  brought  home  from  the 
out-apiary  so  as  to  be  wintered  in  the  cellar. 

There  are  always  a  few  things  upon  which  bees  can 
work  till  quite  late  ;  so  it  is  desirable  to  be  as  late  as  pos- 
sible   bringing   them    home.      They    must,    however,    he 


304  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

brought  home  early  enough  so  they  will  be  sure  of  a 
good  flight  after  being  brought  home  and  before  being 
put  in  the  cellar.  Some  say  they  may  be  safely  put  into 
the  cellar  without  the  flight,  but  one  winter  part  of  mine 
were  put  in  without  a  flight,  and  that  part  wintered  dis- 
tinctly worse  than  the  others.  At  the  latest.  I  want  them 
home  before  Xov.  1.  When  brought  home  they  are 
placed  conveniently  near  the  cellar  door  (Fig.  106). 

WHEN    TO    PUT    BEES    IXTO    CELLAR. 

It  is  a  thing  impossible  to  know  beforehand  just 
what  is  the  best  time  to  take  bees  into  the  cellar.  At 
best  it  can  be  only  a  guess.  Living  in  a  region  where 
winters  are  severe,  there  are  some  years  in  which  there 
will  be  no  chance  for  bees  to  have  a  flight  after  the  mid- 
dle of  November  till  the  next  spring,  and  I  think  there 
was  one  year  without  a  flight-day  after  the  first  of  No- 
vember. One  feels  bad  to  put  his  bees  into  cellar  the 
first  week  in  November,  and  then  two  or  three  weeks 
later  have  a  beautiful  day  for  a  flight.  But  he  feels  a 
good  deal  worse  after  a  good  flight-day  the  first  week  in 
November  to  wait  for  a  later  flight,  then  have  it  turn 
very  cold,  and  after  waiting  through  two  or  three  weeks 
of  such  weather  to  give  up  hope  of  any  later  flight  and 
put  in  his  bees  after  two  or  three  weeks'  endurance  of 
severe  freezing.  So  it  is  better  to  err  on  the  side  of  get- 
ing  bees  in  too  early. 

Theoretically,  the  right  time  to  cellar  bees  is  the 
iiext  day  after  they  have  had  their  last  flight  for  the  sea- 
son, and  one  must  do  the  best  one  can  to  judge  after  any 
flight-day  whether  it  is  the  last  or  not.  ]\Iore  than  one 
reason  can  be  given  for  taking  in  next  day  after  a  flight. 
The  hives  are  dry ;  there  are  no  accumulations  of  frost  or 
ice  inside ;  and  the  bees  are  unusually  quiet.  All  the 
better  if  the  next  morning  is  cool,  as  it  is  likely  to  be. 
Sometimes,  however,  one  cannot  have  everything  as  one 
wants  it,  and  I  have  been  caught  taking  in  bees  in  a 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 


305 


snow-storm.  Better  take  them  in  during  the  storm  than 
after  it  is  all  over  and  constantly  growing  colder.  But 
It  seems  to  do  no  harm  for  them' to  be  taken  in  covered 
with  snow. 

PREPARING   THE   CELLAR. 

For    twenty-four    hours    before    taking    in— perhaps 
for  several  days— doors  and  windows  of  the  cellar  are 


Fig.  107. — Dripping-Pan  Wax -Extract  or. 

ke]:t  wide  open,  so  as  to  air  it  out  thoroughly,  and  per- 
haps the  walls  are  whitewashed  and  the  floor  limed,  al- 
though this  is  generally  done  after  taking  out  in 'the 
sprmg.  Strips  of  boards  are  placed  on  the  ground  so 
that  the  bottom  hive  has  its  bottom-board  an  inch  or  two 
above  the  ground  ?X  the  front  end.  and  an  inch  more  at 
the  back  end. 

CARRYING  IN    HIVES. 

Hives  are  carried  in  just  as  they  are,  because  before 
the  time  for  hauling  bees  home  all  false  bottoms  were 


306 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


removed  and  the  bottom-boards  fastened  to  the  hives 
where  necessarv.  With  the  large  ventilating  space  at 
the  entrance,  and  with  abundance  of  stores,  there  is  no 
need  to  loosen  the  gluing  of  a  cover  from  before  the  time 
a  colony  is  hauled  home  till  after  the  time  for  hauling 
back  in  spring. 

PILING    HIVES    IN    CELLAR. 

The  hives  are  piled  five  high,  each  pile  independent 
t)f  the  others,  so  jarring  one  hive  can  jar  only  lour 
others  First  a  row  of  piles  is  put  at  the  farther  side 
of  the  cellar,  the  hives  close  side  by  side,  entrances  facmg 
the  wall,  with  a  space  of  about  two  feet  between  them 
and  the  wall.  Then  another  row  is  placed  back  to  back 
close  up  against  this  row.  Then  comes  a  space  of  about 
two  feet,  and  another  row  facing  the  space,  so  that  en- 
trrnces  face  each  side  of  the  space.  Then  comes  another 
TOW  back  to  back,  and  so  on.  That  makes  the  hives  m 
double  rows,  back  to  back,  with  a  two-foot  space  m 
Avhich  to  get  at  the  entrances.  _ 

As  far  as  convenient,  the  heavier  hives  are  put  at 
the  bottom,  and  lighter  at  top.  It  is  easier  work  to  do  so, 
and  the  lighter  ones  have  nerhaps  the  advantage  by  being 
liigher  up,  where  it  is  a  little  warmer. 

CARRYING  IN  BEES  WHEN  ROUSED  UP. 

Often  the  bees  get  so  warmed  up  bv  the  middle  of 
the  forenoon,  that  they  flv  out  when  their  hive  is  littecl 
to  be  carried  into  the  cellar.  In  this  case  the  hive  is  put 
back  on  its  summer  stand,  and  another  colony,  less  wide- 
awake, is  taken.  But  if  the  rousing  up  becomes  general, 
operations  must  cease  until  the  after-part  of  the  day  or 
the  next  morning.  If  for  any  reason,  as  the  lateness  of 
the  season,  or  the  fear  of  an  approaching  storm,  it  is 
thought  best  to  carry  in  a  hive  whether  the  bees  are  will- 
ing or  not,  the  entrance  must  be  stopped.  For  this  pur- 
pose—as there  is  no  danger  of  suffocation  from  stopping 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  307 

for  a  short  time— I  know  of  nothing  better  than  a  large 
rag:  or  cloth  which  will  easily  cover  the  entire  entrance. 
The  rag  must  be  dripping  wet.  In  this  condition  it  can 
be  very  quickly  laid  at  the  entrance,  and  being  cold  and 
wet  the  bees  seem  to  be  driven  back  by  it,  and  when  the 
rag  is  removed  in  the  cellar,  few  if  any  bees  come  out. 


Fig.  io8. — Screzciiig  Dozen  JVax-Press. 

If  dry,  the  bees  would  sting  the  rag,  and  upon  its  re- 
moval in  the  cellar  a  crowd  of  angry  bees  would  fol- 
low it. 

WARMING    THE    CELLAR. 

There  is  a  furnace  in  the  cellar  where  my  bees  are 
kept,  which  has  been  there  since  the  winter  of  1903-3. 


308  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

But  let  us  go  back  to  the  time  before  that,  when  the  chief 
difficulty  was  to  keep  the  cellar  warm  enough.  Some 
think  it  a  bad  thing  to  have  fire  in  cellar.  I  would  rather 
have  the  right  temperature  without  the  fire.  So  I  would 
in  my  sitting-room.  But  when  the  temperature  in  the 
sitting-room  w^ithout  a  fire  gets  down  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  zero,  I  would  rather  have  the  fire.  Same  way  in 
the  cellar.  In  this  latitude.  42  degrees  north.  I  have 
known  the  mercury  to  reach  37  degrees  below  zero,  and 
some  winters  there  is  very  little  of  the  time  when  my 
cellar  is  warm  enough  for  the  bees.  A  thermometer  hangs 
centrally  in  the  cellar,  and  I  try  to  keep  it  at  about  45 
degrees.  Sometimes  it  goes  to  36  degrees,  but  not  often, 
and  not  for  long.  Oftener  it  reaches  50  degrees,  but  that 
is  neither  often  nor  long. 

STOVE   IX    CELLAR. 

Whenever  the  thermometer  appears  to  have  any 
fixed  determination  to  stay  below  45  degrees,  a  fire  is 
started.  I  would  not  think  of  using  an  oil-stove,  or 
anything  of  the  kind  that  would  allow  the  gases  to 
escape  in  the  cellar.  A  chimney  goes  from  the  ground 
up  through  the  house,  and  a  hard-coal  stove  is  used. 
For  many  years  I  used  a  common  small  cylinder  stove, 
having  an  inside  diameter  of  abort  8  inches  between 
the  fire-brick.  Then  T  used  a  low-down  open  or  Frank- 
lin stove,  and  I  think  I  like  it  as  well  or  better. 
With  either  stove  there  is  the  open  fire,  and  one  might 
fear  that  the  bees  w^ould  fly  into  it,  but  they  do  not  ap- 
pear to  do  so.  Neither  does  any  harm  come  to  the  hiv^s 
that  stand  within  two  feet  of  the  stove,  for  the  stove  is 
right  in  the  same  room  as  the  bees.  A  few  minutes'  at- 
tention each  morning  and  evening  will  keep  the  fire  2:oing 
continuously,  in  case  it  is  needed  continuously.  There 
have  been  winters  when  fire  was  kept  going  nearly  all 
the  wnnter  through,  and  other  winters  when  little  was 
needed.  The  winter  of  1901-2  was  one  of  the  mild  ones.  A 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  309 

fire  started  Dec.  21  was  kept  for  three  days.  Another. 
Jan.  27,  lasted  one  day.  A  third  started  Feb.  3  lasted 
seventeen  days.  I  think  the  outer  temperature  was  at  no 
time  more  than  15  degrees  below  zero. 

HEAT    FOR   DIARRHCEA. 

I  do  not  know  for  certain,  but  I  think  I  have  had 
good  results  at  a  time  when  diarrhoea  began  to  trouble 
the  bees  in  the  cellar,  by  making  a  hot  fire  and  running 
up  the  temperature  above  60  degrees.  The  bees  would  be- 
come very  noisy,  but  after  the  cellar  cooled  down  to  the 
normal  45  degrees  they  were  quieter  than  before,  and  I 
suspect  the  bees  felt  better. 

VENTILATION   OF  CELLAR. 

I  believe  heartily  in  the  doctrine  of  pure  air  and 
plenty  of  it  for  man,  beast  and  bee.  So  I  consider  ven- 
tilation a  very  important  affair.  With  a  two-inch  space 
under  the  bottom-bars  and  a  12x2  entrance,  there  is  no 
trouble  about  the  ventilation  of  the  hive;  but  no  matter 
how  well  ventilated  a  hive  may  be,  if  the  cellar  in  which 
it  is  placed  contains  nothing  but  foul  air,  how  can  the 
air  in  the  hive  be  sweet? 

FIRE    FOR   VENTILATION. 

I  am  not  sure  but  I  should  want  a  fire  in  a  cellar  for 
the  sake  of  ventilation  even  if  not  needed  for  heat. 

For  the  purpose  of  ventilation  alone,  the  warmer  the 
weather  the  more  the  fire  in  the  cellar  is  needed.  Of 
course  there  must  be  some  limit  to  this,  for  when  the 
temperature  of  the  cellar  goes  above  60  degrees,  the  bees 
show  signs  of  uneasiness. 

WARM   SPELLS  IN   WINTERING. 

The  most  difficult  time  to  keep  the  bees  quiet  in  the 
cellar,  is  when  a  warm  spell  comes  in  the  fall  soon  after 


310  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

taking  them  in,  or  early  in  the  spring.  At  such  times  I 
open  up  the  cellar  at  dark.  If  very  warm,  all  doors  and 
windows  are  opened  wide  and  by  morning  generally  all 
are  aniet.  I  leave  all  open  as  long  as  possible  in  the 
morning ;  sometimes  till  noon ;  when  the  bees  begin  to 
fly  out  all  must  be  darkened.  Very  likely  it  would  be  bet- 
ter if  there  were  a  way  to  admit  air  in  abundance  without 
admitting  light. 

COOLING  AND  AIRING  CELLAR. 

Years  ago,  when  the  temperature  became  too  high  in 
the  cellar  in  spring,  and  I  wanted  to  keep  the  bees  in  the 
cellar  still  longer,  I  tried  cooling  down  with  cakes  of  ice. 
But  it  was  not  satisfactory.  The  trouble  was  not  so 
much  with  the  temperature  as  the  quality  of  the  air.  Then 
I  learned  that  opening  the  cellar  was  more  effectual. 

OPENING  CELLAR  AT  NIGHT. 

The  first  time  I  tried  that  trick  I  got  a  pretty  bad 
scare.  It  was  in  the  sprins^,  and  there  came  a  warm  spell, 
lasting  perhaps  two  or  three  days.  It  kept  getting  warmer 
in  the  cellar,  and  the  bees  kept  getting  noisier.  At  the 
same  time  I  kept  getting  more  uneasy,  not  knowing  just 
what  the  end  might  be.  After  the  trouble  got  pretty  bad, 
I  thought  I  would  venture  to  open  the  cellar  wide  in  the 
evening,  hoping  that  it  might  become  cooler  through  the 
night.  I  think  it  was  50  or  60  degrees  outside,  and  not 
far  from  that  in  the  cellar.  The  bees  were  quite  noisy 
when  the  cellar  was  opened,  and  I  listened  closely  for  the 
quieting  down.  It  didn't  come.  On  the  contrary,  the 
noise  increased  to  a  roar  that  could  be  heard  some  dis- 
tance from  the  cellar,  and  the  bees  were  running  all  over 
the  hives,  some  of  them  hanging  out  in  great  clusters  as 
if  getting  ready  to  swarm.  I  felt  afraid  they  would  all 
leave  their  hives  and  make  a  wreck.  I  assi^re  you  I  was 
badly  frightened  ;  but  I  didn't  know  of  anything  to  do,  so 
I  didn't  do  anything.     As  nearly  as  I  now  remember,  I 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMOXG  THE  BEES  :5ll 

did  not  go  to  bed  till  I  could  recognize  a  little  subsiding, 
and  in  the  morning  the  bees  were  back  in  their  hives  as 
quiet  as  mice,  ^lore  than  once  since  then  I  have  gone 
through  the  same  performance  without  being  troubled  by 
it ;  only  the  cellar  is  not  allowed  to  get  so  bad  before  it  is 
opened. 

LETTING    LIGHT    IX    CELLAR. 

Here  is  a  memorandum  written  ]\Iarch  l-i,  1902 : 
"During  the  past  eight  days  the  weather  has  been  un- 
usually warm  for  the  season,  varying  from  29  to  05  de- 
grees. The  doors  have  been  wide  open  day  and  night 
except  on  the  two  warmest  days,  and  the  (east)  window 
part  of  the  time.  Three  days  ago  it  was  65  degrees  in 
the  afternoon.  Within  twenty-four  hours  the  ground 
was  covered  with  snow,  and  yesterday  morning  the  mer- 
cury stood  at  29  degrees.  At  7  a.  m.  today,  it  w^as  35 
degrees  without  and  4-1:  degrees  in  the  cellar,  doors  and 
window  having  been  open  all  night.  At  9  a.  m.  it  was 
40  degrees  outside  and  45  degrees  in  the  cellar.  The  sun 
'^Jione  directly  into  some  of  the  entrances  near  the  window 
without  disturbing  the  bees.  At  10  :30  a.  m.  it  was  52 
degrees  outside  and  4T  degrees  in  the  cellar ;  the  bees 
still  quiet.  At  11  a.  m.  it  was  53  degrees  without  and 
48  degrees  in  cellar.  In  five  minutes  by  the  watch  I 
counted  fifteen  bees  which  flew  to  the  window.  I  then 
closed  the  window,  leaving  the  doors  wide  open.  At  12 
o'clock  it  was  still  53  degrees  without  and  49  degrees 
in  the  cellar.  In  five  minutes  I  counted  five  bees  flying 
to  the  door.  The  light  does  not  shine  directly  into  the 
room  where  the  bees  are,  they  being  in  an  inside  room. 
I  can  see  to  read  easily  at  the  hives  nearest  the  door.  At 
3  :20  it  was  55  degrees  outside  and  50  degrees  in  cellar. 
In  five  minutes  I  counted  three  bees  flying  to  the  door. 
It  was  then  getting  cloudy,  the  sun  having  been  shining 
most  of  the  day.  I  opened  the  window  for  five  minutes 
and  twelve  bees  flew  to  it.  At  6  p.  m.  the  window  was 
opened  again,  leaving  all  wide  open  till  it  should  again 


312 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 


become  bright  enough  on  the  next  or  some  following  day 
to  make  the  bees  fly  out,  or  cold  enough  to  bring  the 
mercury  down  too  far  in  the  cellar." 

I  have  not  given  this  as  an  example  of  the  perfection 
of  wintering.  It  is  far  from  that.  But  it  shows  that 
after  119  days  of  confinement  the  bees  will  stand  a  good 
deal  of  light  and  warmth  without  showing  much  insubor- 


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Fig.  log. — Enipiying  Out  Shimgnni. 

dination,  providing  they  have  an  abundance  of  good  air. 
It  must  be  higher  than  45  degrees  to  induce  them  out 
when  in  good  condition. 

SUB-EARTH   VENTILATOR. 

Some  years  ago  I  put  in  a  sub-earth  ventilator  of  4- 
inch  tile,  100  feet  long  and  4  feet  deep.  It  was  of  com- 
mon porous  drain-tile,  and  becoming  a  little  skeptical  of 
the  quality  of  the  air  admitted  I  allowed  it  to  become 
filled  up.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  did  wisely.  I  am  strongly 
of  the  opinion  that  an  air-tight  pipe  large  enough  and 
deep  enough  would  be  a  great  aid  to  successful  cellaring. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  313 

MICE   IN    BEE-CELLARS. 

Mice  are  troublesome  denizens  of  cellars  in  winter. 
Even  if  a  cellar  should  be  entirely  free  from  them,  they 
are  likely  to  be  brought  into  the  cellar  with  the  bees  when 
the  hives  are  brought  in.  Some  winters  I  have  closed 
the  entrances  with  heavy  wire-cloth  having  three  meshes 
to  the  inch.  This  shuts  out  mice  without  hindering  the 
free  passage  of  bees.  Even  if  a  mouse  is  shut  up  in  a 
hive,  it  will  not  be  so  bad  as  to  let  it  have  the  free  run  of 
the  cellar.  Other  winters  traps  have  been  used  and 
various  poisons,  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  poison  be- 
ing strychnine  thinly  spread  upon  very  thin  slices  of 
cheese,  the  cheese  being  then  cut  into  tiny  squares. 

CLEANING  OUT  DEAD   BEES. 

Aside  from  attending  to  warming  and  ventilating  my 
cellar,  and  waging  war  against  the  mice,  I  think  of  no 
other  attention  given  to  the  bees  through  the  winter,  ex- 
cept cleaning  out  the  dead  bees.  For  cleaning  them  out 
of  those  hives  which  have  them — for  some  reason  of 
which  I  am  not  yet  sure,  there  are  some  hives  which 
contain  scarcely  a  dead  bee — I  have  a  very  simple  tool. 
It  is  a  piece  of  round,  14 -inch  or  smaller  iron  rod,  with 
one  end  hammered  flat  for  about  two  inches  and  bent  at 
right  angles,  making  something  like  a  hook.  With  this 
hook  I  can  reach  into  the  hive  under  the  frames  and 
scrape  out  the  dead  bees. 

I  have  a  common  kerosene  hand-lamp  with  a  sheet- 
iron  chimney  having  a  little  mica  window  on  one  side — 
such  as  is  used  for  heating  water  on  lamps.  This  serves 
as  a  dark-lantern,  making  little  light  except  in  one  direc- 
tion. Holding  the  lamp  in  my  left  hand,  I  look  in  to  see 
whether  any  live  bees  are  in  sight.  Often  I  see  the  cluster 
near  the  front  of  the  hive,  oftener  at  the  center  or  back 
part  of  the  hive,  the  bees  looking  as  if  dead,  so  still  are 
they ;  but  in  a  few  seconds  some  one  will  be  seen  to  stir. 
Sometimes  the  cluster  will  come  clear  down  so  as  to  touch 


314  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

the  bottom-board,  and  sometimes  not  a  bee  will  be  seen 
below  or  between  the  bottom-bars.  When  the  cluster 
comes  clear  down,  there  may  or  there  may  not  be  bees  on 
the  bottom-board.  In  any  case,  all  the  dead  bees  are 
cleaned  out  that  can  be  got  without  disturbing  the  living. 
There  is,  as  has  been  said,  a  difference  as  to  the  number 
of  dead  bees  in  different  colonies,  and  there  seems  also  a 
dift'erence  in  different  winters.  In  some  cases  perhaps  the 
dead  bees  all  reach  the  cellar  bottom,  in  others  staying  in 
the  hive. 

SWEEPING    UP    DEAD    BEES. 

It  is  very  unpleasant  to  have  the  dead  bees  under 
foot  on  the  cellar  bottom.  Some  fasten  them  in  the  hive. 
Some  sprinkle  sawdust  on  the  floor.  In  either  case  they 
are  left  in  the  cellar  to  foul  the  air.  It  seems  much  better 
to  sweep  out  the  cellar.  During  the  first  Dart  of  the  win- 
ter very  few  bees  will  be  on  the  floor,  and  sweeping  once 
a  month  will  be  enough,  or  more  than  enough.  Toward 
spring  the  deaths  will  be  very  much  more  frequent,  and 
the  sweeping  must  be  more  frequent.  As  giving  a  more 
definite  idea  with  regard  to  this,  I  find  by  referring  to  the 
record  that  in  the  winter  of  1901-2  the  cellar  was  not 
swept  till  Jan.  29 — seventy-five  days  after  the  bees  were 
taken  in.  Then  it  was  swept  again  after  respective  inter- 
vals of  twenty-one,  nineteen,  and  five  days,  the  quantity 
swept  out  each  time  being  about  the  same.  That  gives 
some  idea  of  the  greater  mortality  as  spring  approaches. 
One  winter,  when  the  bees  were  confined  124  days,  the 
dead  bees  for  each  colony  amounted  to  four-fifths  of  a 
quart  or  three-fifths  of  a  pound,  which  made  about  2,130' 
bees  for  each  colony.  I  think  the  mortality  is  usually 
greater  than  that. 

FURNACE  IN   CELLAR. 

In  the  year  1902  the  coal  famine  following  the  great 
anthracite  strike  caught  me  with   four  hard-coal  stoves- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


315 


and  no  coal  to  put  in  them — indeed,  no  prospect  of  getting 
any,  and  winter  close  at  hand. 

About  that  time  my  friend.  E.  R.  Root,  happened  to 
be  here,  and  strongly  advised  as  the  best  way  out  of  the  di- 
lemma to  have  a  furnace  put  in — one  big  enough  to  heat 
the  whole  house,  and  of  such  character  as  to  burn  wood, 
green  or  dry,  coal,  hard  or  soft,  and  indeed  anything  hav- 
hw  anv  inclination  toward  combustibilitv.  I  followed  his 


Fig.  no. — A'(///  Bo.vcs. 


advice,  or  rather  I  outran  it,  for  I  got  a  larger  furnace 
than  he  thought  advisable,  the  fire-pot  being  2T  inches  in 
diameter.  I  am  not  sorry  the  furnace  is  so  large  so  far  as 
heating  the  house  is  concerned,  for  it  makes  a  delightful 
summer  temperature  in  any  part  of  the  house,  no  matter 
how  cold  the  weather,  without  any  of  that  unpleasant  and 
unwholesome  burnt-air  effect.  But  it  made  a  matter  of 
impossibility  for  me  to  think  of  keeping  the  temperature 
of  the  bee-room  down  to  45  degrees  and  since  that  time, 
instead  of  having  to  make  an  effort  to  keep  the  cellar 


316  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

warm   enough,    the    problem   has   been   to   keep   it   cool 
•enough. 

UNFAVORABLE   CONDITIONS. 

Conditions  for  successful  wintering  were  by  no 
means  the  best. 

The  workmen  that  set  up  the  furnace  were  late  in 
finishing  up  the  last  part  of  the  work  in  the  cellar,  so  that 
the  bees  were  not  put  in  till  the  8th  of  December.  On  that 
day  the  temperature  was  8  degrees  below  zero.  It  would 
have  been  much  better  to  have  left  them  out  for  another 
flight  if  I  had  been  sure  of  a  day  warm  enough  without 
waiting  too  long.  But  I  was  not  sure  of  that,  and  I 
thought  it  better  for  them  to  be  taken  in  in  rather  bad  con- 
dition than  to  run  the  risk  of  leaving  them  out  longer. 
The  sequel  showed  I  was  wise  in  so  doing,  for  no  day 
warm  enough  for  a  flight  came  until  February  26. 

A  thin  partition  of  lath  and  plaster  is  all  that  sepa- 
rates the  bee-room  from  the  room  in  which  the  furnace  is 
located,  and  the  thermometer  in  the  bee-room  generally 
•showed  a  temperature  of  50  degrees.  Some  of  the  hot-air 
pipes  pass  through  the  bee-room  overhead :  and  a  ther- 
mometer laid  on  one  of  the  two  hives  directly  under  one 
of  these  pipes  nearest  the  furnace  showed  a  temperature 
of  70  degrees.  The  pipe  is  covered  with  asbestos  paper, 
but  there  was  only  a  space  of  about  three  inches  be- 
tween the  pipe  and  the  top  of  the  hives.  There  was  plenty 
of  room  to  set  these  colonies  in  a  cooler  place,  but  they 
were  allowed  to  stay  right  where  they  were  to  see  what 
the  result  would  be.  They  wintered  beautifully — until 
they  died.  They  starved  to  death,  and  that  not  so  very 
late  in  winter,  although  I  think  they  were  well  supplied 
with  stores.  No  doubt  the  heat  kept  them  so  active  that 
thev  used  up  their  stores  with  unusual  rapidity. 

BAD    WINTERING. 

Under  the  circumstance?  I  figured  on  considerable 
loss.     The  loss  went  beyond  my  figuring.     Not  that  the 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  3ir 

deaths  all  occurred  in  the  cellar.  They  were  largely 
after  the  bees  were  taken  out  in  the  spring;  none  the 
less,  however,  they  were  chargeable  to  bad  wintering. 
I>y  the  l'2th  of  May  there  were  left  only  1"24  colonies  out 
of  199  put  in  cellar,  and  many  of  them  were  mere  nuclei. 
A  loss  of  37  per  cent  was  not  gratifying,  but  bee-keeper- 
like, I  looked  forward  hopefully  to  the  next  winter. 

Alas  for  my  hopes !  Instead  of  3T  per  cent,  the  loss 
for  the  winter  of  1903-04  was  47  per  cent,  leaving  150 
colonies  alive  out  of  284.  And  the  loss  was  mainly  due 
to  lack  of  sufficient  stores.  Some  of  them  died  in  the 
cellar,  and  more  would  have  died  there  if  they  had  not 
been  taken  out  a  little  earlier  than  was  well,  so  they 
could  be  fed.  But  feeding  very  early  in  spring  is  not  so 
well  as  having  an  abundance  of  stores  in  the  hive  in  the 
fall,  and  the  mortality  continued  well  along  in  spring. 
The  fact  that  after  so  many  years  of  experience,  and 
after  advising  others  always  to  have  abundant  stores  for 
winter,  I  should  have  lost  colonies  by  the  score  through 
starvation,  was  humiliating  indeed. 

But  conditions  were  new  and  I  needed  to  learn  that 
in  a  cellar  with  the  thermonieter  generally  ranging  from 
50  to  60,  and  sometimes  going  higher,  bees  consume 
stores  much  more  rapidly  than  at  a  lower  temperature,, 
and  to  the  increasing  number  of  those  who  are  putting 
furnaces  in  cellars,  I  would  say,  "Look  out  for  starva- 
tion." 

But  along  with  the  disadvantage  mentioned,  there 
are  not  iackmg  advantages.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  say 
advantage  rather  than  advantages,  for  the  one  great  ad- 
vantage is  that  of  an  abundant  supply  of  pure,  fresh  air. 
Except  in  the  very  severest  weather,  the  outside  cellar 
door  is  more  or  less  open,  and  the  air  in  the  cellar  is 
sweeter  than  in  many — perhaps  most — living  rooms. 
That's  good  for  the  people  living  over  the  cellar,  and  it 
must  be  good  for  the  bees.  Inside  the  hives  the  combs: 
are  just  as  dry  and  nice  as  in  summer.  Xo  dampness^ 
no  mold,  no  musty  smell. 


318  FIFTY  YE.\RS    A.AIOXG  THE  BEES 

It  seems  nice  to  look  into  a  hive  and  find  so  few 
dead  bees  lying  on  the  bottom-board,  often  none.  When 
a  bee  wants  to  die.  it  is  warm  enough  so  it  can  come 
outside,  just  as  in  summer. 

It  would  be  better  if  it  was  so  arranged  that  fresh 
air  could  enter  without  the  light.  During  the  first  part  of 
the  winter,  the  bees  do  not  seem  to  mind  the  light  at  all, 
and  not  very  much  till  toward  spring,  when  the  door  must 
be  closed  in  daytime.  But  there  is  no  need  to  be  unduly 
frightened  by  a  few  bees  coming  out ;  for  bees  will  get 
old  and  die  ofif,  no  matter  how  dark  the  cellar  be  kept ; 
and  there  may  be  some  question  whether  a  little  light  is 
as  bad  as  the  fouler  air  when  the  cellar  is  closed. 

GOOD    WIXTERIXG. 

Having  had  such  a  severe  lesson,  you  may  be  sure 
that  in  succeeding  years  I  took  pains  to  see  that  before 
the  bees  went  into  the  cellar  they  had  enough  stores  to 
stand  a  winter  temperature  of  50  or  60  degrees.  The  re- 
sult has  been  very  gratifying.  I  no  longer  have  anxiety 
about  wintering,  and  do  not  expect  an}-  colonies  to  die 
unless  it  be  from  queenlessness. 

Somie  one  may  say,  "But  why  don't  you  make  sure 
that  no  queenless  colony  goes  into  the  cellar?"  Possibly 
that  might  be  better ;  but  I  doubt.  The  queenless  colony 
is  not  worth  very  much  at  that  time  of  year,  and  any- 
thing that  would  be  done  with  it  would  hardly  pay  for 
the  trouble  of  hunting  through  a  number  of  colonies, 
causing  them  no  little  disturbance. 

On  the  whole  I  am  quite  in  favor  of  a  furnace  in 
cellar.  To  be  sure,  it  does  away  with  one  argument  in 
favor  of  cellaring,  for  there  may  be  as  heavy  consump- 
tion of  stores  as  on  the  summer  stands,  but  that  is 
greatly  overbalanced  by  having  the  bees  practically  out- 
doors all  winter  in  a  very  mild  climate.  For  with  the 
abundance  of  fresh  air  allowed,  are  they  not  practically 
outdoors?     Beside  that,  I  think  the  bees  are  stronger — 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  319 

I  mean  each  individual  bee  is  stronger — when  well  win- 
tered outdoors  than  when  wintered  in  the  usual  close 
cellar,  and  I  think  there  will  be  that  same  strength  when 
wintered  in  a  cellar  with  a  furnace  and  a  full  supply 
of   outdoor   air. 

EUROPEAN    FOUL    BROOD. 

In  the  year  IDOT  a  number  of  cells  of  dead  brood 
were  found  in  colony  No.  13.  I  can  not  now  be  certain 
of  it,  but  I  think  a  few  such  dead  brood  had  been  seen 
a  year  or  two  previously.  A  large  cherry  orchard  in 
easy  range  of  my  bees  had  been  sprayed  before  the 
blossoms  had  fallen,  and  it  was  easy  to  believe  that  the 
poison  sprayed  on  these  blossoms  was  accountable  for 
the  dead  brood.  Nothing  was  done  about  it,  and  No.  13 
turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  best  in  the  apiary.  In  19U8 
I  think  some  cells  of  dead  brood  were  found  in  two 
colonies.  The  season  was  good,  and  no  attention  was 
paid  to  it,  the  idea  still  being  that  the  poisonous  spray 
was  the  cause  of  the  trouble. 

Beginning  with  the  year  19U9  I  decided  to  give  up 
the  last  out-apiary  (the  Wilson)  and  keep  all  colonies 
in  the  home  apiary.  Wlien  I  found  out  later  wh^.t  was 
before  me,  I  was  thankful  that  all  were  in  a  single 
apiary.  Diseased  brood  was  found  to  such  an  extent 
and  in  so  many  colonies  that  I  sent  a  sample  to  Dr.  E.  F. 
Phillips  at  Washington.  Back  came  the  report  that 
European  foul  brood  was  the  thing  I  had  to  do  with. 
I  do  not  know  how  many  colonies  were  diseased  at  the 
opening  of  the  season,  but  T  do  know  that  we  had  been 
doing  orr  level  best  to  spread  the  disease  throughout 
the  whole  apiary  by  indiscriminate  exchanging  of  combs 
of  brood. 

It  was  fairly  along  in  the  season  when  I  got  the 
word  from  Washington,  and  here  is  what  I  had  to  face : 
A  season  of  dearth,  there  being  a  dead  failure  of  the 
early  honey-flow :  bees  in  about  150  hives,  counting 
nuclei  and  all,  and  only  22  of  them  that  showed  no  sign 


320  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

of  disease  throughout  the  whole  season  ;  with  a  disease 
that  at  that  time  was  said  to  be  ten  times  worse  than 
American  foul  brood.  I  felt  like  giving  up.  But  only 
for  a  little  while.  If  others  had  fought  the  disease,  why 
couldn't  I  ?  Besides,  I  could  now  have  some  live  expe- 
rience with  a  thing  I  had  only  previously  read  about. 

I  started  in  to  use  the  AlcEvoy  treatment,  brushing 
the  diseased  colonies  upon  foundation,  after  doing  some 
breaking  up  and  doubling.  In  all,  however,  only  56 
colonies  were  actually  brushed  upon  foundation.  When 
I  came  to  look  how  they  were  building  up,  I  found,  out 
of  those  first  treated,  that  9  had  left,  bag  and  baggage, 
leaving  empty  hives.  That  was  probably  from  starva- 
tion, so  after  that  I  gave  to  each  shaken  colony  one  or 
more  sections  of  honey  taken  from  diseased  colonies. 
So  far  as  I  know,  this  did  not  in  any  case  convey  the 
disease.  Later,  to  make  more  sure  against  desertion, 
one  of  the  diseased  combs  was  left  in  the  hive,  and 
beside  it  two  empty  frames — not  even  a  starter  in  the 
two  frames,  and  the  rest  of  the  hive  empty.  \Mien  the 
bees  made  a  start  at  building  in  the  empty  frames,  the 
old  comb  was  taken  away,  and  the  hive  was  filled  up  with 
full  sheets  of  foundation.  Sometimes  the  comb  the  bees 
had  built  in  the  empty  frames  was  taken  away  after  a 
good  start  was  made  on  the  foundation,  and  sometimes 
not.     The  outcome  seemed  to  be  all  right  either  w^ay. 

Partly  to  please  Editor  E.  R.  Root,  toward  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  summer  I  tried  the  Alexander  treatment. 
The  gist  of  that  treatment  is  to  remove  the  queen  and 
in  20  days  give  the  colony  a  ripe  queen-cell  of  best  Ital- 
ian stock,  or  else  a  very  young  virgin.  Previous  to  the 
treatment,  however,  an  important  requisite  is  to  make 
the  colony  strong. 

I  varied  from  the  regular  treatment  by  giving  hy- 
brid virgins  instead  of  Italian,  as  my  bees  were  mostly 
hybrids.  It  may  be  a  question  whether  hybrids  are  not 
as  good  as  Italians  in  carrying  out  the  treatment,  pro- 
vided the  hybrids  are  of  equal  vigor. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  321 

I  made  the  inexcusable  blunder  of  understanding 
that  AJr.  Alexander  had  given  a  laying  queen  at  the  end 
of  20  days  of  queenlessness,  instead  of  giving  a  virgin. 
So  I  gave  a  young  virgin  after  10  days  of  queenlessness, 
so  that  there  would  be  a  laying  queen  present  in  about 
20  days  from  the  removal  of  the  queen.  I  now  think 
that  the  blunder  was  a  fortunate  one,  since  there  is  a  gain 
of  8  or  10  days  in  the  time  of  the  treatment,  always  pro- 
vided that  continued  trial  of  the  plan  by  myself  and 
others  should  prove  it  to  be  reliable. 

There  were  some  cases  of  failure,  but  in  each  of 
these  cases  the  colonies  had  not  been  made  very  strong. 
Mr.  Alexander  had  emphasized  the  point  that  in  order 
to  have  the  treatment  eitective  the  colony  must  be 
strong,  either  by  uniting  or  giving  frames  of  sealed 
brood.  Aly  experience  leads  me  to  think  that  not  only 
must  the  colony  be  strong  but  it  must  be  strong  in  young 
bees. 

With  the  opening  of  the  season  of  1910  you  may 
well  suppose  I  was  on  the  alert  to  see  whether  any 
colonies  were  diseased.  In  fact  I  was  really  hoping 
there  would  be  some  cases,  for  I  had  formed  a  theory 
and  wanted  to  try  some  experiments.  I  was  not  disap- 
pointed. In  27  hives  could  be  found  the  distinctive 
mark  of  the  disease,  in  some  only  a  cell  or  two,  while 
in  others  as  much  as  one  cell  in  every  ten  was  afifected. 
Some  one  may  think  it  a  difficult  thing  to  detect  the 
disease  if  only  one  or  two  bad  cells  are  to  be  found  in  a 
hive.  It  is  not  difficult.  The  healthy  brood  is  pearly 
white,  while  the  diseased  larva  being  distinctly  yellow  is 
quickly  spotted,  just  as  you  would  easily  detect  a  yel- 
low hen  in  a  flock  of  white  ones.  It  was  impossible  to 
say  how  many  of  the  27  cases  were  old  offenders  and 
how  many  of  them  were  fresh  cases  brought  in  from 
outside.  For  there  were  diseased  colonies  all  abo::t  me. 
and  there  was  no  law  in  Illinois  to  clean  them  up. 

About  that  theory,  the  theory  as  to  how  the  disease 
is  continued  in  the  hive  and  conveved  from  one  cell  to 


322  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

another.  It  is  well  known  that  if  a  larva  be  broken 
open  the  bees  will  suck  up  its  juices,  and  in  a  case  of 
starvation  the  juices  of  the  larvae  are  consumed  and  the 
white  skins  thrown  out  of  the  hive.  When  a  larva  first 
becomes  diseased,  and  has  not  yet  become  offensive,  it 
is  easy  to  believe  that  the  nurse-bees  will  suck  up  its 
juices,  and  then  when  they  feed  healthy  larvae  the 
healthy  larvae  will  become  diseased.  But  in  a  little  while 
a  diseased  larva  will  become  decayed  and  offensive,  so 
that  it  will  no  longer  be  eaten  by  the  nurse-bees.  If  this 
supposition  be  correct,  it  will  come  to  pass  that  if  egg- 
laying  should  stop  for  5  or  G  days  (the  time  a  larva 
remains  unsealed  in  its  cell)  there  will  no  longer  be  in 
the  hive  at  the  same  time  diseased  larvae  fit  for  the  nurses 
to  eat  and  healthy  larvae  to  which  the  diseased  food  may 
be  given,  and  thus  the  disease  should  come  to  an  end. 

It  was  not  hard  to  make  the  test.  I  caged  the  queen 
of  a  diseased  colony  after  strengthening  it,  and  freed  her 
after  six  days  of  imprisonment.  Xo  more  diseased  brood 
appeared  in  the  hive.  Of  course,  one  swallow  does  not 
make  a  summer,  and  this  might  not  work  in  all  cases. 
Keither  would  I  in  any  case  recommend  the  continuance 
of  the  old  queen  after  treatment.  A  queen  that  has  been 
for  some  time  in  a  foul  broody  colony  seems  sluggish, 
and  is  better  replaced  by  a  vigorous  young  queen. 

As  between  the  ]\IcEvoy  and  the  Alexander — or  the 
Alexander-Miller  treatment  as  it  has  been  called — there 
is  so  much  to  be  gained  in  the  saving  of  combs,  that 
even  if  the  first  plan  always  succeeds  and  the  other 
sometimes  fails,  it  may  be  cheaper  to  use  the  latter  and 
treat  over  again  the  failures.  But  I  may  remark  in  pass- 
ing that  among  the  27  cases  of  1910  some  of  them  were 
of  those  that  had  been  brushed  upon  foundation  the  pre- 
vious year. 

\\^ith  my  present  knowledge  of  the  disease,  here  is 
the  treatment  that  I  believe  well  worth  trying  for  Euro- 
pean foul  brood :  Make  the  colony  strong,  preferably 
by  giving  sealed  brood  so  as  to  have  abundance  of  young 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  323 

bees  ;  remove  the  queen  and  at  the  same  time  give  a  ripe 
queen-cell  or  a  very  young  virgin,  which  cell  or  virgin 
shall  be  of  the  most  vigorous  stock,  and  trust  the  bees 
to  do  the  rest. 

Now  please  remember  that  I  do  not  give  this  as  a 
treatment  well  tried  and  thoroughly  reliable.  My  theory 
is  only  a  theory,  and  the  plan  of  treatment  needs  con- 
firmation, as  the  newspapers  say.  I  only  say  that  I 
think  the  treatment  worth  trying  because  it  has  worked 
with  some  success  so  far ;  and  if  it  proves  successful 
with  others  it  will  be  no  small  gain. 

Remember,  too,  that  it  is  European  foul  brood  I  am 
talking  about.  For  American  foul  brood  the  plan  would 
be  worthless. 

DRIPPING-PAN   WAX-EXTRACTOR. 

Before  the  introduction  of  the  solar  wax-extractor, 
the  rendering  of  wax  was  generally  reserved  as  winter's 
w^ork,  and  indeed  after  the  introduction  of  the  solar  it  was 
often  convenient  to  work  up  in  winter  some  of  the  mate- 
rial saved  up.  A  very  simple  arrangement  on  a  small 
scale  did  excellent  work  on  much  the  same  principle  as 
the  solar  extractor,  only  the  heat  of  the  stove  was  used  in 
place  of  solar  heat. 

An  old  dripping-pan  (of  course  a  new  one  would 
do)  had  one  corner  split  open,  and  that  made  the  ex- 
tractor. The  dripping-pan  is  put  into  the  oven  of  a  cook- 
stove  with  the  split  corner  projecting  out  (Fig.  107). 
The  opposite  corner,  the  one  farthest  in  the  oven,  is 
slightly  raised  by  having  a  pebble  or  something  of  the 
kind  under  it,  so  that  the  melted  wax  will  run  outward. 
A  dish  set  under  catches  the  dripping  wax,  making  the 
outfit  complete.  Of  course  the  material  to  be  melted  is 
put  in  the  pan  the  same  as  in  the  solar  extractor. 

SOLAR    WAX-EXTRACTOR. 

I  do  not  know  that  the  solar  extractor  has  any  ad- 
vantage over  the  dripping-pan  arrangement,  except  that 


324  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

the  sun  furnishes  free  heat.  In  either  case,  when  old 
combs  are  melted,  a  good  deal  of  wax  remains  in  the  ref- 
use or  slumgum,  because  the  cocoons  act  much  like 
sponges.  Especially  is  this  the  case  if  more  than  a  single 
thickness  of  comb  is  placed  for  melting. 

STEAM    WAX-PRESS. 

So  when  the  German  steam  wax-press  came,  leaving 
the  slumgum  mostly  free  from  wax,  the  solar  ex- 
tractor had  to  take  a  back-seat,  leaving  wax-rendering 
again  a  proper  thing  for  winter  work. 

The  wax-press  is  placed  upon  the  cook-stove  (  Fig. 
108)  and  the  work  is  done  according  to  the  instructions 
sent  out  with  the  machine.  I  find  that  time  is  an  im- 
portant element  in  the  work,  and  that  there  is  nothing  to 
be  gained  by  trying  to  hurry  up  matters  by  screwing  down 
very  hard.  If  the  screw  be  turned  down  as  tight  as  can 
be  done  without  sliding  the  can  around  on  the  stove,  that 
is  all  that  is  necessary.  Then  when  the  wax  ceases  to  run 
it  can  be  turned  down  again.  Continuing  in  this  way  till 
no  more  wax  runs,  when  the  slum  gum  is  turned  out 
(Fig.  109)  it  is  so  free  from  wax  that  it  is  not  worth 
working  over  again.  The  wax  saved  by  using  the  steam 
wax-press  will  pay  immense  interest  on  the  money  in- 
vested in  its  purchase. 

OTHER    WINTER    WORK. 

The  work  of  getting  sections  ready  for  the  hoped-for 
harvest  of  the  coming  summer  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, and  the  winter  affords  opportunitv  for  making 
up  hives,  supers,  or  any  fixtures  that  may  be  needed.  As 
these  things  are  bought  mostly  in  the  flat,  the  chief  part 
of  the  work  is  nailing,  and  it  is  a  great  convenience  to 
have  the  different  kinds  of  nails  in  their  proper  places 
ready  for  immediate  use.  A  set  of  nail-boxes,  part  of 
which  are  seen  in  Fig.  110,  serves  the  purpose  excel- 
lently.    The  boxes  are  patterned  somewhat  after  a  tin 


FIFTY  YEARS    A^JOXG  THE  BEES 


325 


nail-box  I  saw  at  a  tin-shop.  \\'hen  a  box  is  taken  from 
its  nail  on  the  wall,  laid  flat  and  slightly  shaken,  the  nails 
are  easily  picked  up  from  the  shallow  part  of  the  box. 

Truth  compels  me  to  say  that  so  many  different  per- 
sons find  it  convenient  to  use  these  boxes  and  inconve- 
nient to  return  them,  that  of  late  the  boxes  are  not  always 
found  in  their  proper  places,  and  when  the  picture  was 
taken  they  were  assembled  for  that  special  occasion. 


"^       Fig.  III. — "Busy  of  the   Typen'riter." 
READING   BEE-TOURXALS. 


]\Iost  of  the  winter-time,  however,  is  occupied  with 
reading  and  writing.  There  are  some  thirty  or  forty  bee- 
journals  to  be  read,  and  a  large  part  of  them  are  printed 
in  the  Gern:an  and  French  languages.  I  am  a  poor 
scholar  in  either  German  or  French,  so  it  is  not  strange 
if  I  sometimes  get  behind  in  my  reading,  to  bring  up  in 
V.  inter.  I  wish  I  could  find  the  time  to  read  ever  again 
at  my  leisure  in  winter  all  the  bee-journals  that  I  read 
more  or  less  hurriedly  in  summer.  But  I  never  find  the 
tim.e.     I  used  to  think  that  if  I  ever  lived  to  be  fifty  years 


326  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

old  I  would  take  things  very  leisurely.  But  I  am  now 
past  fifty,  and  I  never  was  more  crowded  in  my  life  be- 
fore. 

W^RITING    FOR    THE    BEE- JOURNALS. 

Besides  the  reading,  there  is  the  writing.  Some  extra 
writing  usually  to  be  done  each  winter,  besides  the  regular 
work  in  that  line.  I  have  written  "Stray  Straws''  for 
Gleanings  in  Bee-Culture  ever  since  December,  1890,  and 
four  years  later  I  began  writing  answers  to  questions  in 
the  American  Bee-Journal.  The  thought  of  keeping  up 
that  w^ork  year  in  and  year  out,  with  never  a  vacation, 
summer  or  winter,  would  be  somewhat  wearisome  if  it 
were  not  that  I  delight  in  the  work.  If  any  one  of  my 
readers  should  hesitate  about  sending  to  me  any  question 
connected  with  bee-keeping  because  of  the  thought  that 
it  will  be  unpleasant  to  me.  let  him  disabuse  his  mind  of 
any  such  thought.  The  receipt  of  such  questions  is  a 
real  pleasure. 

One  thing,  however,  that  gives  pain  instead  of  pleas- 
ure, is  to  find  a  stamp  enclosed  upon  opening  a  letter,  for 
then  I  know  that  the  writer  expects  an  answer  by  mail, 
and,  in  justice  to  others,  answering  bee-questions  by  mail 
is  a  thing  I  cannot  do.  If  I  should  answer  one  by  mail 
I  must  answ^er  others,  and  the  only  fair  way  is  to  treat  all 
alike.  The  request  for  me  to  answer  a  question  in  print 
will  always  be  cheerfully  complied  with  without  any 
stamp  accompanying  the   request. 

IF  BEGINNING  AGAIN.     *^ 

I  am  sometimes  asked  whether,  if  beginning  afresh, 
I  would  take  the  same  course  I  have  already  been  over. 
That  is  not  a  very  easy  question  to  answer.  There  are 
some  things  that  can  only  be  settled  by  experiment,  and 
about  such  things  one  can  not  reply  offhand.  Likely,  if 
I  were  beginning  all  over  again  not  many  things  would 
te  different  from  what  they  are.  But  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  answxr  as  well  as  I  can  about  a  few  things. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AAIONG  THE  BEES  327 

CHOICE    OF    LOCATION. 

If  I  were  to  start  in  afresh,  I  would  take  some  pains 
to  select  a  location  as  favorable  for  bee-keeping  as  pos- 
sible. I  didn't  choose  a  location.  I  just  began  bee- 
keeping where  I  was,  with  no  thought  of  doing  anything 
in  a  commercial  way,  and  grew  into  the  business.  I  cer- 
tainly would  not  start  in  afresh  in  a  location  with  only 
one  principal  honey-plant,  and  that  sometimes  a  failure. 
That  w^as  the  condition  here,  clover  the  only  dependence 
for  a  crop,  and  that  with  too  many  off  years.  Of  late 
years,  however,  the  fall  crop  is  worth  considering. 

HIVE-STANDS. 

I  surely  would  not  start  in  with  such  hive-stands  as 
I  now  have.  The  bottom-board  resting  upon  so  large 
a  flat  surface  makes  a  good  place  for  moisture  to  lodge, 
and  favors  rotting  both  bottom-board  and  stand.  It 
also  makes  a  fine  place  for  the  large  black  ants  to  lodge 
and  honeycomb  the  boards.  Something  would  be  better 
that  allows  a  smaller  area  of  contact.  Tile  or  cement 
might  fill  the  bill. 

ITALIAN    BEES.  '      ; 

Through  years  of  selection  I  have  hybrids  that  are 
hustlers.  But  they  are  cross.  If  I  had  it  to  do  over 
again  I  would  look  out  more  for  temper,  and  I  think  I 
would  stick  to  pure  Italian  blood,  even  if  occasionally  a 
hybrid  colony  should  store  most  honey.  If  I  had  per- 
sisted in  breeding  from  pure  Italian  stock,  I  might  have 
just  as  good  hustlers  as  I  now  have,  with  less  tendency 
to  change,  and  with  better  tempers. 

EIGHT  VERSUS  TEN  FRAMES. 

I  changed  from  10-frame  to  8-frame  hives,  I  think, 
more  than  for  any  other  reason  because  at  that  time  it 
w^as  the  fashion.     I  do  not  know  that  I  got  any  better 


328  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IONG  THE  BEES 

crops  by  changing.  \Vhen  it  comes  to  moving  hives 
about,  the  advantages  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  smaller 
hive.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  supers.  I  am  not 
sure  the  smaller  hives  have  any  other  advantage,  unless 
it  be  that  they  occupy  less  space  and  cost  a  little  less. 
But  the  larger  hive  has  the  great  advantage  that  it  can 
have  a  larger  supply  of  stores  on  hand  at  all  times,  mak- 
ing less  danger  of  starvation  in  winter  and  spring.  That 
makes  less  trouhle  and  less  anxiety.  An  8-frame  hive  is 
sometimes  too  small  for  a  queen  without  a  second  storv, 
where  a  single  stcry  with  ten  frames  would  answer.  So 
if  it  were  to  do  over  again,  very  likely  I  might  continue 
the    10-frame   hive. 

.  EXTRACTED    HOXEY   VERSUS    C0:MB. 

I  have  learned  the  production  of  comb-honey  as  a 
trade,  and  it  would  be  a  good  deal  like  taking  up  an  en- 
tirely different  business  to  take  up  the  production  of 
extracted  honey.  Nevertheless  I  do  not  knoz<.'  that  I  can 
make  more  money  with  comb  than  with  extracted  honey. 
At  one  time  there  was  so  much  adidteration  of  extracted 
honey  that  the  price  of  the  genuine  article  was  affected 
thereby.  Pure-food  laws  have  changed  that,  so  that 
comb-honey  has  no  longer  that  advantage. 

There  is  another  matter  that  deserves  serious  con- 
sideration. If  I  were  running  for  extracted  honey  I 
would  undoubtedly  produce  more  honey  than  by  running 
for  comb  honey.  If  more  honey  is  produced,  more  of 
it  will  be  consumed,  and  I  believe  increased  consumption 
of  honey  would  be  a  fine  thing  for  the  health  of  the  na- 
tion. So  if  I  were  broa  1-minded  enough,  very  likely 
I  would  start  in  again  as  an  extracted-honey  man. 

"OFFICE." 

Possibly  some  one  of  my  readers  mig'ht  dtsire  a  pic- 
ture of  the  office  in  which  I  do  my  work.  That  would 
take  a  number  of  pictures.     According-  to  circumstances, 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  329 

my  office  may  be  on  the  back  porch  seen  in  Fig.  1,  or  it 
may  be  in  any  one  of  nine  different  rooms  inside.  A  look 
at  the  furnishings  in  Fig.  Ill  will  show  that  it  is  no 
serious  undertaking  to  move  my  "office"  whenever  de- 
sired. I  never  like  to  be  far  from  the  rest  of  the  family, 
and  when  at  work  I' enjoy  the  sound  of  their  voices,  even 
though  I  may  pay  no  attention  to  what  they  are  saying. 
They  are  generally  cjuite  considerate  in  refraining  from 
interrupting  my  work  by  remarks  directed  personally  to 
me,  but  sometimes  they  forget. 

I  count  myself  singularly  blessed  in  having  a  home 
•Ahere  all  the  members  of  the  family  are  so  united  in  their 
tastes  and  enjoyments.  One  of  our  chief  earthly  pleas- 
ures is  the  love  of  flowers.  At  our  quiet  country  home  we 
have  room  unlimited  for  prcdn-cing  summer  roses  by  the 
bushel,  and  the  bay  window  of  the  sitting-room  brightens 
the  days  of  winter  with  its  bright  colors  and  luxuriant 
green.  If  you  were  here,  I  am  sure  you  would  enjoy  a 
sight  of  that  window,  and  then  I  would  take  pride  in  dis- 
pla}'ing  to  you  my  set  of  china  honey-dishes  shown  in  the 
last  picture  in  the  book.  They  were  painted  by  my  sister, 
each  dish  showing  a  separate  honey-plant,  one-half  the 
dish  being  covered  by  a  honey-comb. 

I  desire  to  record  my  deep  gratitude  to  a  loving 
Heavenly  Father  for  giving  me  so  busy  and  happy  a  life  ; 
and  for  you,  dear  reader,  I  can  dardly  express  a  better 
wish  than  that  your  life  may  be  as  happy,  if  not  as  busy, 
as   mine. 


Some  years  ago,  at  the  instigation  of  Editor  E.  R.  Root,  I  wrote  a 
honey-leaflet  which  has  been  circulated  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  It  has 
been  thought  well  that  it  should  be  reproduced  in  more  permanent  form 
by    liaving  a   "!are   in    the   present    work,    and    here    follows: 

H  )N':;v  AG  A  W.TOLESOME  Food 

About  80  pounds  of  sugar  on  the  average  is  annually  consumed  by 
every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United  States.  Of  course,  many  use 
less  than  the  average,  but  to  make  up  for  it  some  consume  several  times 
as  much.  It  is  only  within  the  last  few  centuries  that  sugar  has  become 
known,    and    only    within    the    last    generation    that    refined    sugars    have    be- 


330  FIFTY  YEARS   AMONG  THE  BEES 

come  so  low  in  price  that  they  may  be  commonly  used  in  the  poorest  fami- 
lies. Formerly  honey  was  the  principal  sweet,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
items  sent  as  a  propitiatory  offering  by  Jacob  to  his  unrecognized  son,  the 
chief  ruler  of  Egypt,   3,000  years  before  the  first  sugar-refinery  was  built. 

It  would  be  greatly  for  the  health  of  the  present  generation  if  honey 
could  be  at  least  partially  restored  to  its  former  place  as  a  common  article 
of  diet.  The  almost  universal  craving  for  sweets  of  some  kind  shows  a 
real  need  of  the  system  in  that  direction,  but  the  excessive  use  of  sugar 
brings  in  its  train  a  long  list  of  ills.  Besides  the  various  disorders  of  the 
alimentary  canal,  fatal  disease  of  the  kidneys  is  credited  with  being  one 
of  the  results  of  sugar-eating.  When  cane-sugar  is  taken  into  the  stomach, 
it  cannot  be  assimilated  until  first  changed  by  digestion  into  grape-sugar. 
Only  too  often  the  overtaxed  stomach  fails  to  properly  perform  this  di- 
gestion, then  comes  sour  stomach  and  various  dyspeptic  phases.  Prof.  A. 
J.    Cook  says: 

"If  cane-sugar  is  absorbed  without  change,  it  will  be  removed  by  the 
kidneys,  and  may  result  in  their  break-down;  and  physicians  may  be  cor- 
rect in  asserting  that  the  large  consumption  of  cane-sugar  by  the  20th 
century  man  is  harmful  to  the  great  eliminators — the  kidneys — and  so  a 
menace  to  health  and  long  life." 

Now,  in  the  wonderful  laboratory  of  the  bee-hive  there  is  found  a 
sweet  that  needs  no  further  digestion,  having  been  prepared  fully  by  those 
wonderful  chemists — the  bees — for  prompt  assimilation  without  taxing 
stomach  or  kidneys.  As  Prof.  Cook  says:  "There  can  be  no  doubt  but 
that  in  eating  honey  our  digestive  machinery  is  saved  work  that  it  would 
have  to  perform  if  we  ate  cane-sugar;  and  in  case  it  is  overtaxed  and 
feeble,  this  may  be  just  the   respite   that   will   save   from  a  break-down.' 

A.  I.  Root  says:  "Many  people  who  cannot  eat  sugar  without  having 
unpleasant  symptoms  follow,  will  find  by  careful  test  that  they  can  eat 
good,    well-ripened    honey    without    any    difficulty    at    all." 

HONEY    THE    MOST    DELICIOUS    SAUCE 

Not  only  is  honey  the  most  wholesome  of  all  sweets,  but  it  is  the  most 
delicious.  No  preparation  of  man  can  equal  the  delicately  flavored  product 
of  the  hive.  Millions  of  flowers  are  brought  under  tribute,  presenting  their 
tiny  cups  of  dainty  nectar  to  be  gathered  by  the  busy  riflers;  and  when 
they  have  brought  it  to  the  proper  consistency,  and  stored  it  in  the  won- 
drously-wrought  waxen  cells  and  sealed  it  with  coverings  of  snowy  white- 
ness, no  more  tempting  dish  can  grace  the  table  at  the  most  lavish  banquet; 
and  yet  its  cost  is  so  moderate  that  it  may  well  find  its  place  on  the  tables 
of  the  common  people  every  day   in  the  week. 

IT    IS    ECONOMY    TO    USE    HONEY 

Indeed,  in  many  cases  it  may  be  a  matter  of  real  economy  to  lessen 
the  butter-bill  by  letting  honey  in  part  take  its  place.  A  pound  of  honey 
will  go  about  as  far  as  a  pound  of  butter;  and  if  both  articles  be  of  the 
best  quality  the  honey  will  cost  the  less  of  the  two.  Often  a  prime 
article   of   extracted   honey    (equal   to   comb   honey   in   every   respect      except 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  331 

appearance)  can  be  obtained  for  about  half  the  price  of  butter.  Butter 
is  at  its  best  only  when  "fresh,"  while  honey,  properly  kept,  remains  in- 
definitely good — no  need  to  hurry  it  out  of  the  way  for  fear  it  may  become 
rancid. 

GIVE     CHILDREN      HOXEY 

Prof.  Cook  says:  "We  all  know  how  children  long  for  candy.  This- 
longing  voices  a  need,  and  is  another  evidence  of  the  necessity  of  sugar  in 
our  diet.  .  .  .  Children  should  be  given  all  the  honey  at  each  meal- 
time that  they  will  eat.  It  is  safer,  will  largely  do  away  with  the  inordi- 
nate longing  for  candy  and  other  sweets;  and  in  lessening  the  desire  wilt 
doubtless  diminish  the  amount  of  cane-sugar  eaten.  Then  if  cane-sugar 
does  work  mischief  with   health,   the  harm  may  be  prevented." 

Ask  the  average  child  whether  he  will  have  honey  alone  on  his  bread 
or  butter  alone,  and  almost  invariably  he  will  promptly  'answer,  "Honey. "~ 
Yet  seldom  are  the  needs  or  the  tastes  of  the  child  properly  consulted. 
The  old  man  craves  fat  meat;  the  child  loathes  it.  He  wants  sweet,  not 
fat.  He  delights  to  eat  honey;  it  is  a  wholesome  food  for  him,  and  is- 
not  expensive.      Why  should   he  not  have  it? 

HONEY     BEST     TO     SWEETEX     HOT     DRINKS 

Sugar  is  much  used  in  hot  drinks,  as  in  coffee  and  tea.  The  substi- 
tution of  a  mild-flavored  honey  in  such  uses  may  be  a  very  profitable 
thing  for  the  health.  Indeed,  it  would  be  better  for  the  health  if  the  only 
hot  drink  were  what  is  called  in  Germany  "honey-tea" — a  cup  of  hot 
water  with  one  or  two  tablespoonfuls  of  extracted  honey.  The  attain- 
ment of  great  age  has  in  some  cases  been  attributed  largely  to  the  life- 
long use   of  honey-tea. 

Comb   .\nd   Extr.\cted   Honey 

At  the  present  day  honey  is  placed  on  the  market  in  two  forms — in^ 
the  comb,  and  extracted.  "Strained"  honey,  obtained  by  mashing  or 
melting  combs  containing  bees,  pollen  and  honey,  has  rightly  gone  out  of 
use.  Extracted  honey  is  simply  honey  thrown  out  of  the  comb  in  a  ma- 
chine called  a  honey-extractor.  The  combs  are  revolved  rapidly  in  a. 
cylinder,  and  centrifugal  force  throws  out  the  honey.  The  comb  remains-", 
uninjured,  and  is  returned  to  the  hive  to  be  refilled  again  and  again. 
For  this  reason  extracted  honey  is  usually  sold  at  a  less  price  than  comb* 
honey,  because  each  pound  of  comb  is  made  at  the  expense  of  several 
pounds  of  honey. 

DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  FLAVORS 

Many  people  think  "honey  is  honey" — all  just  alike;  but  this  is  a 
great  mistake.  Honey  may  be  of  good,  heavy  body — what  bee-kepers  calH 
"well-ripened" — weighing  generally  twelve  pounds  to  the  gallon,  or  it  may 
be  quite  thin.  It  may  also  be  granulated,  or  candied,  more  solid  than  lard. 
It   may  be   almost  as  colorless  as  water,     and   it   may     be  as   black     as   the- 


332  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

darkest  molasses.  The  flavor  of  honey  varies  according  to  the  flower 
from  which  it  is  obtained.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  in  words 
the  flavors  of  the  different  honeys.  Vou  may  easily  distinguish  the  odor 
of  a  rose  from  that  of  a  carnation,  but  you  might  find  it  difficult  to  de- 
scribe them  in  words  so  that  a  novice  smelling  them  for  the  first  time 
could  tell  which  was  which.  But  the  different  flavors  in  honey  are  just 
as  distinct  as  the  odors  in  flowers.  Among  the  light-colored  honeys  are 
white  clover,  linden  (or  basswood)  sage,  sweet  clover,  alfalfa,  willow- 
herb,  etc.,  and  among  the  darker  are  found  heartsease,  magnolia  (or  pop- 
lar),   horse-mint,   buckwheat,   etc. 

ADULTER.\TION     OF     HONEY 

In  these  days  of  prevailing  adulteration,  when  so  often  "things  are 
not  what  they  seem,"  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  strictly  pure  honey,  both 
extracted  and  comb,  can  still  be  had  and  at  a  reasonable  price.  The  silly 
stories  seen  from  time  to  time  in  the  papers  about  artificial  combs  being 
filled  with  glurose,  and  deftly  sealfd  .over  with  a  hot  iron,  have  not  the 
slightest  foundation  in  fact.  For  years  there  has  been  a  standing  offer 
by  one  whose  financial  responsibility  is  unquestioned,  of  $1,000  for  a  single 
round  of  comb  honey  made  without  the  intervention  of  bees.  The  offer 
remains  untaken,  and  will  probably  always  remain  so,  for  the  highest  art 
of  man  can  never  compass  such  delicate  workmanship  as  the  skill  of  the 
"bees    arrom]ilishes. 

Extracted  honey,  however,  is  not  in<-apable  of  imitation.  Time  was 
when  a  tumbler  on  a  grocer's  shelf  labeled  honey  might  contain  honey 
and  it  might  contain  glucose.  If  you  were  well  eno'.igh  acquainted  with 
honey  you  might  tell  the  difference  by  the  taste;  otherwise  you  had  to 
trust  to  the  honesty  of  the  grocer.  Always,  however,  you  could  be  sure 
of  the  genuine  article  by  gettina:  it  from  the  beekeeper  himself.  Rut  the 
pure-food  laws  have  changed  ail  that,  and  nowadays  you  may  trust  that 
the   label   correctly   represents   what   is   under   it. 

CARE     OF     HONEY WHERE     TO     KEEP     IT 

The  average  housekeeper  will  put  honey  in  the  cellar  for  safe-keeping 
— about  the  worst  place  pofsible.  Honey  readily  attracts  moisture,  and  in 
the  cellar  extracted  honey  will  become  thin,  and  in  time  may  sour;  and 
with  comb  honey  the  case  is  still  worse,  for  the  appearance  as  well  as  the 
quality  is  changed.  The  beautiful  white  surface  becomes  watery  and 
darkened,  drops  of  water  ooze  throngh  the  cappings,  and  weep  over  the 
surface.  Instead  of  keei^ing  honey  in  a  jilace  moist  and  cool,  keep  it  dry 
and  warm,  even  hot.  It  will  not  hurt  to  be  in  a  temjierature  of  even  TOO 
degrees.  Where  salt  will  keep  dry  is  a  good  place  for  honey.  Few  ]ilaces 
are  better  than  the  kitchen  cupboard.  Up  in  a  hot  garret  next  the  roof 
is  a  good  place,  and  if  it  has  had  enough  hot  days  there  through  the  sum- 
mer, it  will  stand  the  freezing  of  winter;  for  under  ordinary  circumstances 
freezing  cracks  the  combs,   and   hastens   granulation   or   candying. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  333 


GRANULATED      HONEY TO     RELIQUEFY 

When  honey  is  kept  for  an}-  length  of  time  it  has  a  tendency  to 
change  from  its  clear  liquid  condition,  and  becomes  granulated  or  candied. 
This  is  not  to  be  taken  as  any  evidence  against  its  genuineness,  but  rather 
the  contrary.  Some  prefer  it  in  the  candied  state,  but  the  majority  prefer 
it  liquid.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  restore  it  to  its  former  liquid  condition. 
Simply  keep  it  in  hot  water  long  enough,  but  not  too  hot.  If  heated 
above  160  degrees  there  is  danger  of  spoiling  the  color  and  ruining  the  fla- 
vor. Remember  that  honey  contains  the  most  delicate  of  all  flavors — that  of 
the  flowers  from  which  it  is  taken.  A  good  way  is  to  set  the  vessel  con- 
taining the  honey  inside  another  vessel  containing  hot  water,  not  allowing: 
the  bottom  of  the  one  to  rest  directly  on  the  bottom  of  the  other,  but 
putting  a  bit  of  wood  or  something  of  the  kind  between.  Let  it  stand  on 
the  stove,  but  do  not  let  the  water  boil.  It  may  take  half  a  day  or  longer 
to  melt  the  honey.  If  the  honey  is  set  directly  on  the  reservoir  of  a 
cook-stove,  it  will  be  all  right  in  a  few  days.  In  time  it  will  granulate 
again,   when    it   must   again   be   melted. 


Honey-Gems— 2    quarts    flour,    3    tablespoonfuls    melted    lard,      yi  pint 

honey,    ^    pint    of   molasses.    4    heaping   tablespoonfuls   brown      sugar,  IJ/2 

level   tablespoonfuls   soda,    1    level   teaspoonful    salt,    1/3   pint   water,    ^  tea- 
spoonful    extract   vanilla. 

Honey-Jumbles — 2  quarts  flour,  3  tablespoonfuls  melted  lard,  1  pint 
honey,  14  pint  molasses,  1>^  level  tablespoonfuls  soda,  1  level  teaspoonful 
salt,    54   pint   water,    Yz    teaspoonful   vanilla. 

The  jumbles  and  the  gems  immediately  preceding  are  from  recipes 
used  by  bakeries  and  confectioners  on  a  large  scale,  one  firm  in  Wiscon- 
sin  alone  using  ten  tons  of  honey  annually  in  their   manufacture. 

Aikin's  Honey-Cookies — 1  teacupful  extracted  honey,  1  pint  sour 
cream,  scant  teaspoonful  soda,  flavoring  if  desired,  flour  to  make  a  soft 
dough. 

Soft  Honey-Cake — 1  cup  butter,  2  cups  honey,  2  eggs,  1  cup  sour 
milk,  2  teaspoonfuls  soda,  1  teaspoonful  ginger,  1  teaspoonful  cinnamon, 
4   cups  flour. — Chalon   Foz<.ls. 

Ginger  HonEy-Cake — 1  cup  honey,  1/2  cup  butter,  or  drippings,  1 
tablespoonful  boiled  cider,  in  half  a  cup  of  hot  water  (or  34  cup  sour 
milk  will  do  instead).  Warm  these  ingredients  together,  and  then  add  1 
tablespoonful  ginger  and  1  teaspoonful  soda  sifted  in  with  flour  enough  to 
make   a    soft   batter.      Bake   in   a   flat   pan. — Clialon    Fozcls. 

Oberlin  Honey  Fruit-Cake — M  cup  butter,  f4  cup  honey,  1  3  cup 
apple  jelly  or  boiled  cider,  2  eggs  well  beaten,  1  teaspoonful  soda,  1  tea- 
spoonful each  of  cinnamon,  cloves,  and  nutmeg,  1  teacupful  each  of  raisins 
and  dried  currants.  Warm  the  butter,  honey  and  apple  jelly  slightly,  add 
the  beaten  eggs,  then  the  soda  dissolved  in  a  little  warm  water;   add   spices 


334  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

and  flour  enough  to  make  a  stift"  batter,  then  stir  in  the  fruit  and  bake  in  a 
•slow   oven.      Keep  in   a   covered   jar   several   weeks  before   using. 

Honey  Popcorn  Balls — Take  1  pint  extracted  honey;  put  it  into  an 
iron  frying-pan,  and  boil  until  very  thick;  then  stir  in  freshly  popped  corn, 
and  when  cool  mold  into  balls.      These  will  especially  delight  the  childreix. 

Honey  Shortcake — 3  cups  flour,  2  teaspoonfuls  baking-powder,  1 
teaspoonful  salt,  Y^  cup  shortening,  l)/i  cups  sweet  milk.  Roll  quickly, 
and  bake  in  a.  hot  oven.  When  done,  split  the  cake  and  spread  the  lower 
half  thinly  with  butter,  and  the  upper  half  with  ^  pound  of  the  best- 
flavored  honey.  (Candied  honey  is  preferred.  If  too  hard  to  spread  well 
it  should  be  slightly  warmed  or  creamed  with  a  knife).  Let  it  stand  a 
few  minutes,  and  the  honey  will  melt  gradually,  and  the  flavor  will  per- 
meate all  through   the  cake.      To  be   eaten   with   milk. 

Oeerlin  Honey  Layer-Cake — 2/3  cup  butter,  1  cup  honey,  3  eggs 
Taeaten,  Yz  cup  milk.  Cream  the  butter  and  honey  together,  then  add  the 
eggs  and  milk.  Then  add  2  cups  of  flour  containing  1^  teaspoonfuls 
"baking-powder  previously  stirrd  in.  Then  stir  in  flour  to  make  a  stiff 
"batter.  Bake  in  jelly-tins.  When  the  cakes  are  cold,  take  finely-flavored 
candied  honey,  and  after  creaming  it,   spread  between  the  layers. 

Honey  Nut-Cakes — 8  cups  sugar,  2  cups  honey,  4  cups  milk  or  water, 
1  pound  almonds,  1  pound  English  walnuts,  3  cents  worth  each  of  candied 
lemon  and  orange  peel,  5  cents  worth  citron  (the  last  three  cut  fine),  2 
large  tablespoonfuls  soda,  2  teaspoonfuls  cinnamon,  2  teaspoonfuls  ground 
cloves.  Put  the  milk,  sugar,  and  honey  on  the  stove  to  boil  15  minutes; 
skim  off  the  scum,  and  take  from  the  stove.  Put  in  the  nuts,  spices,  and 
candied  fruit.  Stir  in  as  much  flour  as  can  be  done  with  a  spoon. 
Set  away  to  cool,  then  mix  in  the  soda  (don't  make  the  dough  too  stiff). 
Cover  up  and  let  stand  over  night,  then  work  in  enough  flour  to  make  a 
stiff  dough.  Bake  w'hen  you  get  ready.  It  is  well  to  let  it  stand  a  few 
days,  as  it  will  not  stick  so  badly.  Roll  out  a  little  thicker  than  a  common 
cooky,   cut  in  any  shape  j'ou  like. 

This  recipe  originated  in  Germany,  is  old  and  tried,  and  the  cake  will 
Iceep  a  year   or  more. — ^Irs.   E.    SmitJi. 

Muth's  Honey-Cakes — 1  gallon  honey  (dark  honey  is  best),  1.5  eggs, 
3  pounds  sugar  (a  little  more  honey  in  its  place  may  be  better),  1^  oz. 
haking-soda.  2  oz.  ammonia,  2  lbs.  almonds  chopped  up,  2  lbs.  citron,  4  oz. 
cinnamon,  2  oz.  cloves,  2  oz.  mace,  18  lbs.  flour.  Let  the  honey  come 
almost  to  a  boil ;  then  let  it  cool  and  add  the  other  ingredients.  Cut  out 
and  bake.  The  cakes  are  to  be  frosted  afterward  with  sugar  and  white 
of  eggs. 

Oberlin  Honey-Cookies — 3  teaspoonfuls  soda  dissolved  in  2  cups 
warm  honey,  1  cup  shortening  containing  salt.  2  teaspoonfuls  ginger,  1  cup 
liot  water,   flour  sufficient  to  roil. 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  335 

Honey  Tea-Cake — 1  cup  honey,  Yi.  cup  sour  cream,  2  eggs,  ^  cup 
"butter,  2  cups  flour,  scant  Yz  teaspoonful  soda,  1  teaspoonful  cream-of- 
tartar.      Bake  30  minutes  in  a  moderate  oven. — Miss  M.  Candler. 

Honey-Ginger-Snaps — 1  pint  honey,  ^  lb.  butter,  2  teaspoonfuls  gin- 
ger. Boil  together  a  few  minutes,  and  when  nearly  cold  put  in  flour  until 
it   is  stiff.      Roll   out  thin,   and   bake   quickly. 

Honey-Caramels — 1  cup  extracted  honey  of  best  flavor,  1  cup  granu- 
lated sugar,  3  tablespoonfuls  sweet  cream  or  milk.  Boil  to  "soft  crack," 
or  until  it  hardens  when  dropped  into  cold  water,  but  not  too  brittle — just 
so  it  will  form  into  a  soft  ball  when  taken  in  the  fingers.  Pour  into  a 
greased  dish,  stirring  in  a  teaspoonful  extract  of  vanilla  just  before  taking 
•off.  Let  it  be  3^  or  ^  inch  deep  in  the  dish;  and  as  it  cools,  cut  in 
squares  and  wrap  each  square  in  paraffine  paper,  such  as  grocers  wrap  but- 
ter in.  To  make  chocolate-caramels,  add  to  the  foregoing  1  tablespoonful 
melted  chocolate,  just  before  taking  off  the  stove,  stirring  it  in  well.  For 
chocolate-caramels  it  is  not  so  irrportant  that  the  honey  be  of  the  best 
•quality. — C.    C.    Miller. 

Honey  Grape-Jelly — Stew  the  grapes  until  soft;  mash  and  strain 
them  through  cheese-cloth,  and  to  each  quart  of  juice  add  one  quart  of 
honey,  and  boil  it  until  it  is  thick  enough  to  suit.  Keep  trying  by  dipping 
■out  a  spoonful  and  cooling  it.  If  you  get  it  too  thick  it  will  candy.  Any 
other   fruit-juice   treat  just   the   same. 

Moore's  Honey  Ginger-Snaps — One  pint  of  honey,  one  teaspoonful 
of  ginger,  and  one  teaspoon rul  of  soda,  dissolved  in  a  little  water,  and  two 
-eggs.  Mix  all.  then  work  in  all  the  flour  possible,  roll  very  thin,  and  bake 
in  a  moderately  hot  oven.  Any  flavoring  extracts  can  be  added,  as  you 
may  wish. 

Moore's  Honey  Jumbles  or  Cookies  are  made  in  the  same  way  as  the 
above,  without  any  sugar  or  syrup,  but  add  some  shortening.  In  using 
honey  for  any  kind  of  cakes,  the  dough  must  be  as  stiff  with  flour  as  pos- 
sible, to  keep  them   from   running  out   of  the   stove. 

To  Spice  Apples,  Pears  or  Peaches — One  quart  of  best  vinegar,  I 
•quart  of  honey,  Yz  ounce  each  of  cloves  and  stick  cinnamon.  Boil  all 
toegther  1.5  minutes,  then  put  in  the  fruit,  and  cook  tender.  Put  in  a 
stone  jar  with  enough  of  the  syrup  to  cover  the  fruit.  It  will  keep  as 
long  as  wanted. 

For  Sugar  Curing  lOO  Pounds  of  Meat — Eight  pounds  of  salt,  1 
<|uart  of  honey,  2  ounces  of  saltpeter,  and  3  gallons  of  water.  Mix,  and 
"boil  until   dissolved,  then  pour  it   hot   on   the  meat. 

Mrs.  Barber's  Honey-Candy — One  quart  honey,  1  small  teacup  of 
•granulated  sugar,  butter  size  of  an  egg,  2  tablespoons  strong  vinegar.  Boil 
i.mtil  it  will  harden  when  dropped  into  cold  water,  then  stir  in  1  small  tea- 
•spoonfulful  of  baking  soda.  Pour  into  buttered  plates  to  cool.  Without 
the   vinegar   and   soda   it   can   be   pulled   or   worked   a   long   time,   and   is   just 


336  FIFTY  YEARS    A^IOXG  THE  BEES 

the    thing    for   an    old-fashioned    candy-pull,    as    it    is   not    sticky,    and    yet    is 
soft  enough  to  pull  nicely. 

Scripture  Honey-Cake — One  cupful  of  butter — Judges  v.  25;  3 J/2 
cupfuls  of  flour — I  Kings  iv.  22;  2  capfuls  of  sugar — Jeremiah  vi.  20;  2 
cupfuls  of  raisins — I  Samuel  xxx.  12;  2  cupfuls  of  figs — I  Samuel  xxx.  12; 
1  cupful  of  water — Genesis  xxiv.  IT;  1  cupful  of  almonds — Genesis  xliii. 
11;  little  salt — Leviticus  ii.  13;  6  eggs — Isaiah  x.  14;  large  spoonful  of 
honey — Exodus  xvi.    31;   sweet   spices  to   taste — I   Kings  x.    2. 

Follow  Solomon's  advice  for  making  good  boys,  and  you  will  have  a 
good  cake — Prov.  xxiii.  14.  Sift  two  teaspoonfuls  of  baking  powder  in  the 
flour;  pour  boiling  water  on  the  almonds  to  remove  the  skins,  seed  the 
raisins,   and  chop  the  figs.      It  makes  one  large   or  two   small   cakes. 

Mrs.  Barber's  Honey-Cookies — One  large  teacupful  of  honey.  One 
egg  broken  into  the  cup  the  honey  was  measured  in,  then  2  large  spoon- 
fuls sour  milk,  and  fill  the  cup  with  butter  or  good  beef  dripping.  Put 
in  one  teaspoonful  of  soda  and  flour  to  make  a  soft  dough.  Bake  in  a 
moderate  oven  a  light  brown. 

Gotham  Honey  Ginger-Cake — Rub  ^  of  a  pound  of  butter  into  a 
pound  of  sifted  flour;  add  a  teacupful  of  brown  sugar,  2  tablespoonfuls 
each  of  ground  ginger  and  caraway  seed.  Beat  5  eggs,  and  stir  in  the  mixture, 
alternately,  with  a  pint  of  extracted  honey.  Beat  all  together  until  very 
light.  Turn  into  a  shallow  square  pan,  and  set  in  a  moderate  oven  to 
bake  for  one  hour.     When  done,   let  cool  and  cut  into  squares. 

]\Irs.  Aikin's  Honey  Apple-Bltter — One  gallon  good  cooking  aoplfs, 
1  quart  honey,  1  quart  honey-vinegar,  1  heaping  teaspoonful  ground  cin- 
namon. Cook  several  hours,  stirring  often  to  prevent  burning.  H  the 
vinegar  is  very  strong,   use  part  water. 

Howele's  Hard  Honey-Cake — Take  6  pounds  of  flour,  3  pounds 
honey,  1^  pounds  of  sugar,  1^  pounds  butter,  6  eggs,  J/2  ounce  saleratus; 
ginger  to  your  taste.  Have  the  flour  in  a  pan  or  tray.  Pack  a  cavity  in 
the  center.  Beat  the  honey  and  yolks  of  eggs  together  well.  Beat  the 
butter  and  sugar  to  cream,  and  put  into  the  cavity  in  the  flour;  then  add 
the  honey  and  yolks  of  the  eggs.  Mix  well  with  the  hand,  adding  a  little 
at  a  time,  during  the  mixing,  the  ^  ounce  of  saleratus  dissolved  in  boil- 
ing water  until  it  is  all  in.  Add  the  ginger,  and  finally  add  the  whites  of 
the  6  eggs,  well  beaten.  Mix  well  with  the  hand  to  a  smooth  dough. 
Divide  the  dough  into  7  equal  parts,  and  roll  out  like  gingerbread.  Bake 
in  ordinary  square  pans  made  for  pies,  from  10  x  14-inch  tin.  After  put- 
ting into  the  pans,  mark  off  the  top  in  ^-inch  strips  with  something  sharp. 
Bake  an  hour  in  a  moderate  oven.  Be  careful  not  to  burn,  but  bake  well. 
Dissolve  sugar  to  glaze  over  top  of  cake.  To  keep  the  cake,  stand  on  end 
in  an  oak  tub,  tin  can,  or  stone  crock — crock  is  best.  Stand  the  cards  up 
so  the  flat  sides  will  not  touch  each  other.  Cover  tight.  Keep  in  a  cool, 
dry  place.  Don't  use  until  three  months  old,  at  least.  The  cake  improves 
with  age,   and  will   keep   good   as  long  as  you   will   let   it.      Any   cake   sweet- 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  337 

ened  with  honey  does  not  dry  out  like  sugar  or  molasses  cake,  and  age 
improves  or  develops  the  honey-flavor.  This  recipe  has  been  used  with 
unvarying  success  and  satisfaction  for  100  years  in  the  family  that  reports. 
A  j-ear's  supply  of  this  cake  can  be  made  up  at  one  time,   if  desired. 

Maria  Fraser's  Honey-Jumbles — Two  cups  honey,  1  cup  butter,  4 
eggs  (mix  well),  1  cup  buttermilk  (mix),  1  good  quart  of  flour,  1  level 
tcaspoonful  soda  or  saleratus.  If  it  is  too  thl,,,  stir  in  a  little  more  flour. 
If  too  thin  it  will  fall.  It  does  not  want  to  be  as  thin  as  sugar-cake.  Use 
very  thick  honey.  Be  sure  to  use  the  same  cup  for  measui-e.  Be  sure  to 
rai-x   the   honey,   eggs   and   butter  well   together. 

Honey  Fruit-Cake — Take  I3/2  cups  of  honey,  2/3  cup  of  butter,  Vi 
cup  of  sweet  milk,  3  eggs  well  beaten,  3  cups  of  flour,  2  teaspoonfuls  of 
baking-powder,   2   cups  raisins,   1   teaspoonful  each  of  cloves  and  cinnamon. 

IIoxEV  Ginger-Snaps — One  pint  honey,  ^  pound  of  butter,  2  tea- 
spoonfuls  of  ginger,  boil  together  a  few  minutes,  and  when  nearly  cold 
put  in   flour  until   it   is  stiff,   roil  out  thinly  and  bake  quickly. 

^Irs.  Minnick's  Soft  Honey-Cake — Put  scant  teaspoonful  soda  in 
teacup,  pour  5  tablespoonfuls  hot  water  on  the  soda;  then  fill  the  cup  with 
extracted  honey.  Take  V2  cup  of  butter  and  1  egg  and  beat  together;  add 
2  cups  of  flour  and  1  teaspoonful  of  ginger;  stir  all  together,  and  bake  in  a 
rery   slow   oven. 

Honey-Cake — One  quart  of  extracted  honey,  J^  pint  sugar,  J^  pint 
melted  butter,  1  teaspoonful  soda,  dissolved  in  >4  teacup  of  warm  water, 
H  of  a  nutmeg  and  1  teaspoonful  of  ginger.  Mix  these  ingredients,  and 
then  work  in  flour  and  roll.  Cut  in  thin  cakes  and  bake  on  buttered  tins  in 
a  quick  oven. 


REMEDIES    USING   HONEY 

Honey  and  Tar  Cough-Curf, — Put  1  tablespoonful  liquid  tar  into  a 
shallow  tin  dish,  and  place  it  in  boiling  water  until  the  tar  is  hot.  To  this 
add  a  pint  of  extracted  honey,  and  stir  well  for  half  an  hour,  adding  to  it 
a  level  teaspoonful  pulverized  borax.  Keep  well  corked  in  a  bottle.  Dose, 
1  teaspoonful  every  one,  two,  or  three  hours,  according  to  severity  of 
cough. 

Honey  as  a  Tape- Worm  Remedy — Peeled  pumpkin  seeds,  3  ounces; 
honey,  2  ounces;  water,  8  ounces.  Make  an  emulsion.  Take  half,  fasting, 
in  the  morning,  remaining  half  an  hour  later.  In  three  hours'  time  two 
ounces  castor-oil  should  be  administered.  Used  with  great  success. — Med- 
ical  Brief. 


338  FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 

HoxEY  FOR  Erysipelas,  is  used  locally  by  spreading  it  on  a  suitable 
cloth  and  applying  to  the  parts.  The  application  is  renewed  every  3  or  4 
hours.  In  all  cases  in  which  the  remedy  has  been  employed,  entire  relief 
from  the  pain  followed  immediately,  and  convalescence  was  brought  about 
in    o    or    4    days. 

Honey  for  Dyspepsia — A  young  man  who  was  troubled  with  dyspepsia, 
and  the  more  medicine  he  took  the  worse  he  became,  was  advised  to  try 
honey  and  graham  gems  for  breakfast.  He  did  so,  and  commenced  to  gain, 
and  now  enjoys  as  good  health  as  the  average  man,  and  he  does  not  take 
medicine,  either.  Honey  is  the  only  food  taken  into  the  stomi;h  tliat 
leaves  no  residue;  it  requires  no  action  of  the  stomach  whatever  to  digest 
it,  as  it  is  merely  absorbed  and  taken  up  into  the  system  by  the  action  of 
the  blood.  Honey  is  the  natural  foe  to  dyspepsia  and  indigestio  i.  as  well 
as  a   food   for  the   human   system. 

HoxEY  FOR  Old  People's  Coughs — Old  people's  coughs  are  as  distinct 
as  that  of  children,  and  require  remedies  especially  adapted  to  them.  It  is 
known  by  the  constant  tickling  in  the  pit  of  the  throat — just  where  the 
Adam's  apple  projects — and  is  caused  by  phlegm  that  accumulates  there, 
which,   in   their   weakened   condition  they   are   unable    to   expectorate. 

Take  a  fair-sized  onion^a  good  strong  one — ail  I't  it  simmer  in  a 
quart  of  honey  for  several  hours,  after  which  strain  and  take  a  teaspoon- 
ful   frequently.      It  eases  the  cough  wonderfully,  though  it  may  not   cure. 

Honey  for  Stomach  Cough — All  mothers  know  what  a  stomach  cough 
is— caused  by  an  irritation  of  that  organ,  frequently  attended  with  indi- 
gestion.     The  child   often   "throws  up"   after  coughing. 

Dig  down  to  the  roots  of  a  wild  cherry  tree,  and  peel  off  a  handful 
of  the  bark,  put  it  into  a  pint  of  water,  and  boil  down  to  a  teacupful.  Put 
this  tea  into  a  quart  of  honey,  and  give  a  teaspoonful  every  hour  or  two. 
It  is  pleasant,  and  if  the  child  should  also  have  worms,  which  often  hap- 
pens, they  are  pretty  apt  to  be  disposed  of,  as  they  have  no  love  for  the 
wild-cherry   flavor. 

Honey  and  Tar  Cough  Candy — Boil  a  double  handful  of  green  hoar- 
hound  in  two  quarts  of  water  down  to  one  quart;  strain,  and  add  to  this 
tea  two  cups  of  extracted  honey  and  a  tablespoonful  each  of  lard  and 
tar.  Boil  down  to  a  candy,  but  not  enough  to  make  it  brittle.  Begin  to 
eat  this,  increase  from  a  piece  the  size  of  a  pea,  to  as  much  as  can  be 
relished.  It  is  an  excellent  cough  candy,  and  always  gives  relief  in  a 
short   time. 

Swiss  Remedy  for  a  Cold  Settling  on  the  Chest — Boil  a  quart 
of  pure  spring  water;  add  as  much  camomile  as  can  be  grasped  in  three 
fingers,  and  three  teaspoonfuls  of  honey,  and  cover  tight.  The  vessel  is 
then  to  be  quickly  removed  from  the  nre  and  set  on  a  table  at  which  the 
patient  can  comfortably  seat  himself.  Throv.ing  a  woolen  cloth  over  the 
patient's  head  so  to  include  the  vessel,  he  is  to  remove  the  cover  and  inhale 
the  vapors  as   deeply   as   possible   through   the   mouth   and   nose,    occasionally 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES  339 

stirring  the  mixture  until  it  is  cold,  and  then  retire  to  a  warmed  bed.  In 
obstinate  cases  the  treatment  should  be  repeated   for  three  evenings. 

Honey  Croup  Remedy — This  is  the  best  known  to  the  medical  profes- 
sion, and  is  an  infallible  remedy  in  all  cases  of  mucus  and  spasmodic 
croup:  Raw  linseed  oil,  2  oz. ;  tincture  of  blood  root,  2  drs. ;  tincture  of 
lobelia,  2  drs. ;  tincture  of  aconite,  1,4  dr. ;  honey,  4  oz.  Mix.  Dose,  yi  to 
1  teaspoonful  every  15  to  20  minutes,  according  to  the  urgency  of  the 
case.  It  is  also  excellent  in  all  throat  and  lung  troubles  originating  from 
a  cold.  This  is  an  excellent  remedy  in  lung  trouble:  Make  a  strong  de- 
coction of  hoarhound  herb  and  sweeten  with  honey.  Take  a  tablespoonful 
4   or  5   times  a  day. 

Honey  on  Frost-Bites — If  your  ears,  fingers,  or  toes  become  frozen 
nothing  will  take  the  frost  out  of  them  sooner  than  if  wrapped  up  in 
honey.     The   swelling   is  rapidly   reduced,    and   no   danger   occurs. 

Honey  and  Cream  for  Freckles — Have  you  tried  a  mixture  of  honey 
and  cream — half  and  half — for  freckles?  Well,  it's  a  good  thing.  If  on 
the   hands,    wear   gloves   on   going   to   bed. 

Dr.  Kneipp's  HoNEY-SALVE-^This  is  recommended  as  an  excellent 
dressing  for  sores  and  boils.  Take  equal  parts  honey  and  flour,  add  a  little 
water,    and    stir   thoroughly.      Don't   make    too    thin.      Then    apply    as    usual. 

Summer  Honey-Drink — 1  spoonful  of  fruit-juice  and  1  spoonful 
honey  in  J^  glass  water;  stir  in  as  much  soda  as  will  lie  on  a  silver  dime, 
and  then  stir  in  half  as  much  tartaric  acid,  and  drink  at  once. 

Dr.  Peiro's  Honey-Salve — for  boils  and  other  diseases  of  a  similar 
character — is  made  by  thoroughly  incorporating  flour  with  honey  until  a 
proper  consistency  to  spread  on  cloth.  Applied  over  the  boil  it  hastens 
suppuration,   and   the   early   termination   of  the   painful    lesion. 

Honey  as  a  Laxative — In  olden  time  the  good  effects  of  honey  as  a 
remedial  agent  were  well  known,  but  of  late  little  use  is  made  thereof.  A 
great  mistake,  surely.  Notably  is  honey  valuable  in  constipation.  Not  as 
an  immediate  cure,  like  some  medicines  which  momentarily  give  relief  only 
to  leave  the  case  worse  than  ever  afterward,  but  by  its  persistent  use 
daily,  bringing  about  a  healthy  condition  of  the  bowels,  enabling  them 
properly  to  perform  their  functions.  Many  suffer  daily  irom  an  irritable 
condition,  calling  themselves  nervous,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  not 
realizing  that  constipation  is  at  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  that  a  faithful 
daily  use  of  honey  fairly  persisted  in  would  restore  cheerfulness  of  mind 
and    a   healthy   body. — Le  Progres   Apicole. 

Coughs,  Colds,,  Whooping  Cough,  Etc. — Fill  a  bell-metal  kettle  with 
hoarhound  leaves  and  soft  water,  letting  it  boil  until  the  liquor  becomes 
strong — then  strain  through  a  muslin  cloth,  adding  as  much  honey  as  de- 
sired— then  cook  it  in  the  same  kettle  until  the  water  evaporates,  when  the 
candj'  may  be  pourcl  into  shallow  vessels  and  remain  until  needed,  or 
pulled    like    molasses   candy    until    white. 


340 


FIFTY  YEARS    AMONG  THE  BEES 


Honey  for  Sore  Eyes — A  neighbor  of  mine  had  inflammation  in  his 
eyes.  He  tried  many  things  and  many  physicians;  was  nothing  better,  but 
rather  grew  worse,  until  he  was  almost  entirely  blind.  His  family  was 
sick,  and  I  presented  him  with  a  pail  of  honey.  What  they  did  not  eat 
he  put  in  his  eyes,  a  drop  or  two  in  each  eye  two  or  three  times  a  day. 
In  three  months'  time  he  was  able  to  read  coarse  print,  and  after  four 
months'  use  his  eyes  were  almost  as  good  as  ever.  I  have  also  found 
honey  good   for  common   cold-sore   eyes. — S.    C.   Perry. 


--  ^'^^^^M 


Set  of  Honey-Dishes. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


INDEX 


Abnormal    Behavior     183 

Adam   Grimm,    Italians   from..  29 

Age  of  Larvae  for  Queens.  .  .  .  246 

A.  I.  Root.  Visit  to 23 

American    Bee    Journal    Found  2  2 

Assistant    Bee-keeper     56 

Average     Yield    Depending     on 

Numbers    35 

Bad   Year    37 

Baits.    Brood-combs   as 33 

Bait-sections      154 

Balling    Queen    78 

Bee-brushes     75 

Bee-Dress,   Woman's    233 

Bee-gloves     230 

Bee  .iournals,  Reading 325 

Bee-journals,    "Writing    for....  326 

Bee-keeping    Sole    Business...  33 

Bee-palace     16 

Bees  Doing  Work  Most  Xeeded  179 

Bees,    First     15 

Bees,    Italians     327 

Bees    Xot    Preferrins:    Too    Old 

Larvae     239 

Bees   Off   Combs,    Pounding...  74 

Bees   Off   Combs,    Shaking.  ...  74 

Bee-space     137 

Bee-strainer    66 

Bee-veil     229 

Beginner    Improving    Stock...  262 
Best    Bees,    Keeping    in    Home 

Apiary     43 

Best    Queen,     Keeping    in    Nu- 
cleus      242 

Bottom-board    47 

Boyhood  Days    9 

Breeding-combs.    Trimming     .  .  244 

Breeding-comb.     Placing     246 

Breeding    from    Best 234,  235 

Bringing  Bees  Home  in  Fall.  .  203 

Brood    as    a    Stimulant 116 

Brood,    Disposal    of    Extra....  136 

Brood    for    Cells,    Starting....  :M2 

Brood,    Giving    to    Stronger...  112 

Brood,     Giving    to    Weaker.  .  .  113 

Brood    in    Sections 141 

Brood,    Taking    Away    All....  176 
Brood.     Tarking     Two     Frames 

Weekly    175 

Brood   to    Top-bar 91 

B'u-r-combs    136 

Cages,    One-Cent     164 


Caging  Cells.   Advantages   of.  .  256 

Carrying    in    Bees 305 

Cellar,    Airing     42 

Cellar,   Cooling  and  Airine.  .  .  .  310 

Cellar,    Furnace    in 314 

Cellar,  Keeping  Open 310 

Cellar,    Letting    Light    in 311 

Cellar,    Preparing   the 305 

Cellar,    Ta'kino-    Bees    Out    of .  .  41 

Cellar,   Time  to   Put   Bees  in..  304 

Cellar,   Too  Warm    309 

Cellar,     Ventilation     of....  45,  309 

Cellar,     Warming     307 

Cell-building,     Preparing    Bees 

for    244 

Changing   from  Double   to   Sin- 
gle  Hives    303 

Changin<r   from    Single   to   Dou- 
ble Hives    301 

Chicago,    Three   Years   in 28 

Cincinnati,    Winter    in     27 

Cleaning    Hives    59 

Cleaning  Out   Dead  Bees 313 

Cleaning  Supers  and  T  Tins.  .  141 

Cleats  for  Hive 46 

Clipping,    Advantage    of 68 

Clipxiine,    Implement    for 62 

Clover,    Giant    White 122 

Clover  Harvest,    Close   of 199 

Clover,    Sweet     121 

Clover,    White,    L^ncertain.  .  .  .  127 

College  Life    13 

Colonies  to   Feed,   Selecting...  293 
Comb    Foundation,    Attempt    at  22 
Combs,    Getting    Built    to    Bot- 
tom-bars      88 

Combs.    Mending    80 

Consumption    of    Stores 103 

Cork     Chips    for    Watering...  109 

Countrv   Life    30 

Covers* 93 

Covers   with   Dead-air    Space..  94 

Covers.    Zinc     94 

Crediting    Colonies     206 

Cross    Colonies     232 

Digression     56 

Division-boards      110 

Division    of    Labor 150 

Doolittle's  Plan   for   Swarms.  .  166 

Doolittle's    Plan,    Varying....  167 

Doolittle's   Plan    of    Shaking.  .  74 

Double    Hives.    Ad'>">ntases    of  300 

Double    Hives   for   Winter 298 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Dress  for  Hottest  Weather.  .  .  232 

Drone-la^-ing    Queens     117 

Dummy    92 

Economy  to  Use  Honey 330 

Education,    Early     9 

Eggs,    Destroying     188 

Eggs,    Looking    for 241 

Entrance-block    48 

Entrance-closer     49 

Entrance.    Size    of 46 

Excluder,     None     Under     Sec- 
tions      139 

Experimenting    on    Too    Large 

Scale      139 

Experimenting,    Pleasure    of.  .  140 

Extractor,    Peabody     24 

Feeder.    Crock-and-Plate     108 

Feeder.    Improved    Miller 107 

Feeder,    Original    Miller 107 

Feeder    Sections     275 

Feeding   Eirlv  for  Winter.  ...  292 

Feeding,  *Fali     290 

Feeding   in   Fall   for   Spring...  293 

Feeding   in   June 107 

Feeding.    Outdoor     102 

Feeding.   Stimulative    103 

Feeding  to  Fill   Combs 105 

Feeding.   Wholesale    105 

Fire    for    Ventilation 309 

Foul   Brood.    European    319 

Foundation.     Cutting      147 

Foundation     Plan     to     Prevent 

S\varming     191 

Foundation-splints    89 

Foundation    Treatment     188 

Frame.    Miller     83 

Frame    Resting    Diagonally    in 

Hive      <"? 

Frames.    Loose-hnnging     82 

Frames.      Self-spa-cing      82 

Frames.      Taking     Out 60 

Fuel  for  Smoker    70 

Fumigating    Sections     274 

Go-Backs     214 

Go-Back    Work,    Colonies    for.  214 

Good    Year     37 

Harbingers     of     Harvest     ....  120 

Hauling    Bees     48 

Hauling    Supers    from    Out-api- 

arv    ' 206 

Heat     for    Diarrhoea      309 

Heddon     Super     38 

Hives    and   Frames    80 

Hives.    Chirnges    in     81 

Hives.    Eight    vs.    Ten    Frame.  327 

Hive-seat     '5 


Hives,    Groups    of    Four 97 

Hives    in    Paii-s    U6 

Hive-tools      58 

Home     Market      288 

Home     vs.     Distant     Market..  288 

Honey,    Adulteration    of    332 

Honey    a    Wholesome    Food...  329 

Honey-board.    Heddon     136 

Honey-cooking     Recipes      ....  333 
Honev,     Different     Kinds     and 

FlaVors     of      331 

Honey,     Draining    Extracted..  285 

Honey.    Extracted   vs.    Comb..  328 

Honey,     First      16 

Honey.     Granulated      284 

Honev,     Keeping     in     Garret..  283 

Honey,    Late     201 

Honev.      Marketing      286 

Honey,    Place    to    Keep 282 

Honey-plants,    Various     ..120.  125 

Honey.   Reserve   Combs   of    .  .  .  296 

Honey. Ripening      284 

Honey-room      208 

Honey-show      281 

Honev.     To     Reliquefv     Granu- 
lated      333 

Honey.    Where   to   Keep 332 

Increase,     Artificial      265 

Increase  by  Taking  to  Out-api- 
ary       265 

Increase,    Nucleus    Plan    of .  .  .  270 

Increase,     Too    Rapid     24 

Increase    Without    Xuclei 271 

Increasing  from   12   to    81.  .  .  .  266 
Increasing     9     Weak     Colonies 

to    56     266 

Introducing    Qui  e-^s     264 

Italians.     First      20 

Jumbo  Hive    196 

Killing    Grass     119 

Laying   Workers     116 

Loading   Sections  for   Shipping  286 

Location,    Choice    of 327 

Making    Bees    Stay 240.  2-50 

iiarktiing     Honey      liSo 

Meal.     Feeding     99 

Medicine,    Study    of 12,    15 

Memoranda      125 

Mice   in    Bee-cellar    313 

Miller    Feeder    107 

Millrr    Tent-ei=c  pe     203.  216 

Xon-swarming    Piles    174 

Xon-SAvarming,      Working     To- 
ward       190 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Nuclei,    Baby    251 

Xuclei,    Good    Chance    for    ...  170 

Xuclei    in    Fall    297 

Xuclei.      Starting      238 

Xuclei.     Uniting     297 

Nucleus.    Building   Up   Without 

Help      271 

Xucleus.    Giving    to    Swarm...  172 

X'^ucleus-hive      2  48 

Xucleus-hive,  Contents  of .  .  .  250 
Xucleus,     More     Than     One    in 

Hive     247 

Xucleus    Plan    of    Increase...  270 

Xucleus   to    Prevent    Swarming  185 

X'ucleas  with   Best    Queen.  .  .  .  242 

X'umbering   Hives    51 

One    Story.    Reducing   to    135 

Opening   Cellar   at    Night 310 

Opening    Hive     59 

Overstocking      127 

Pasturage,     Artificial     123 

Pendulum   Plan   for   Shaking..  75 

Piles   in   Late    Summer    224 

Piles    of    Stories     197 

Piles    Sometimes    a    Target    for 

Robbers     222 

Piling    Hives    in    Cellar     306 

Plaving   Bees    and    Robbers.  .  .  225 

Pollen,    Substitutes    for     100 

Pounding  Bees  off  Combs....  74 
Prices    in    Home    and    Distant 

Market      290 

Propolis.     Bees     and     Localitv 

for      61 

Push-board      209 

Put-Up    Plan    for    Swarms....  167 

Queen,   Aids   to  Finding 65 

Queen,    Bees    Balling     78 

Queen-cage,     Improved     Miller  252 

Queen,    Catching    67 

Queen-cells, Appearance    of    Va:- 

cated     258 

Queen-cells,   Brood   for    244 

Queen-cells,  Brushing  Bees  Off  256 

Queen-cells,     Distributing 256 

Qufen-cells.     Getting     Bees     to 

Destroy 168,  185 

Queen-cells.    Looking   for    ....  187 

Queen-cells.    Placing    240 

Queen-cells,    Stapling  on   Comb  240 

Queen,    Clipning     67 

Queen.    Finding    63 

Queenless   Bees   Working 170 

Queenless    Colonies    116 

Qieenless.    Keeping   Colonies..  ISO 

Oieen   of   Swarm.   Finding....  165 

Queen    Xursery.    Miller     258 

Queen.  Putting  Down    168 


Quten.     Putting     Up 167 

Queens,    Quality    of     262 

Queen-rearing      234 

Queen-rearing,  Conditions  for  236 
Queen.    Rearing    in    Hive    with 

Laying    Queen     236 

Queen,    Rearing    in    "Put -Up"  184 

Queen,    Room    for    135 

Queens    for    Out-apiaries 263 

Queens,    History    of     53 

Queens,    Introducing    26  1 

Queens,    Keeping   Caged    181 

Queens,    Supersedure  of    192 

Queens,     Supplanting    Undesir- 
able       191 

Queen.    Watching    for 62 

Ra:bbets,     Cleaning     61 

Record-book    52 

Record-book,     Advantage     of.  .  54 

Record-entries     118 

Record.    Making     78 

Robbed     Bees.     Do     thev     Join 

the    Robbers     ' 222 

Robber    Bees,    Watching    for.  .  203 

Robber-cloth     215 

Robbers,     Leaving     Something 

for    219 

Robbing.    Bad    Case    of 223 

Robbing,    Fault    of    Bee-keeper  220 

Robbing,   Signs  of    226 

Robbing,  Starting  by  Feeding  220 
Robbing,     Stopping    with    Wet 

Hay      221 

Saltpeter    Rags     73 

Scolding     Bees      231 

Scraping   Sections    279 

Seasons.    LTncertainty    of 155 

Seat,     T     Super 58 

Second   Story,   Giving    114 

Section   Honey,    First    32 

Sections     128 

Sections,     Cleaning     Daruby.  .  .  277 

Sections,   Bees  Emptying    ....  276 

Sections,     Feeding     104 

Sections,   Final    Taking   Off .  .  .  2  74 
Sections,   First   Part  of   Clean- 
ing        278 

Sections,   Folding     145 

Sections,  Fumigating  ...213.  2(4 
Sections,    Getting      Bees       Out 

of     201 

Sections,    Keeping   Tally   of.  .  .  205 
Sections,   Loading    when    Ship- 
ping   286 

Sections,   Packing    in    a    Car.  .  287 

Sections,   Packing   in   Cases    .  .  279 

Sections,    Putting   in    Supers..  151 

Sections,   Ready   in   Advance..  131 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Sections,    Scraping     279 

Sections,    Sorting      275 

Sections.   Taking    Off    199 

Sections,    Taking  Out   of  Super   210 
Sections,    Taking     Out     Unfin- 
ished        213 

Sections,    Unmarketable     276 

Sections,   Wetting      144 

Selection,     Importance     of .  .  .  .    234 

Separators,     Putting    in 153 

Separators.    Top     153 

Shade     97 

Shade.    Movable     99 

Shaken    Swarms     176 

Shaken     Swarms    Without     In- 
crease        198 

Shaking  Bees  Off  Combs 273 

Shipping-cases     280 

Shop   for  Bee-work    134 

Smoker    Fuel    70 

Smoker  Fuel.    Green    72 

Smoker-kindling      72 

Smokers      69 

Smokers,   Cleats   on    70 

Smoking    Bees    Down     201 

Spacing    End    86 

Spacing-nails      84 

Sponge-bath    at    Noon     232 

Spring    Overhauling     55 

^Standard    Goods.    Using    .  .       .       87 

Stands      96.    327 

"Starters  in  Sections,  Size  of  146 
"Starters.    Putting   in   Sections.    151 

Stings,   Getting  Out    230 

Stings,     Protection    from 228 

Stories,    Number    of    294 

e*ove    in     Cellar 308 

Strong    vs.    Weak    Colonies...    Ill 

Sub-earth    Ventilation     312 

Subsequent    Overhauling     ....    115 

Super-filler      151 

Supers  for  Out-a^iiaries  ....  158 
Supers,  Giving  Additional....  155 
Supers,  Loading  on  Wagon..  207 
Supers    of    Sections.    Blocking 

Up      213 

Supers,    T     129 

Supers,    Under   or   Over 158 

Super-springs      130 

Surplus     Arrangements     128 

Surplus   Combs   of   Honey 104 

Swarming,   Cause   of    173 

Swsrming     Colonies.     Manage- 
ment   of    161 

Swarming,     Demaree     Plan     to 

Prevent      197 

Swarming,    Destroying    Queen- 
cells    to    Prevent     191 


Swarming,       Disadvantage       of 

Forced      178 

Swarming.     Empty    Frames    to 

Prevent      191 

Swarming   Forced    176 

Swarming,    Forced   vs.    Natural    176 
Swarming,   Foundation  Plan  to 

Prevent    189 

Swarming    Galore     183 

Swarming.     Natural,     for     Ital- 
ianizing,    to    Prevent 263 

Swarming   Not    Desirable 160 

Swarming.    Prevention    of 172 

Swarming,      Replacing      Queen 

to    Prevent    193 

Swarming,   Ventilation    to   Pre- 
vent          197 

Swarms,    Accidental     198 

Swarms.     Watching    for 162 

Sweeping    Up    Dead    Bees....    314 

Syrup    for   Feeding 291 

System,    Lack   of    110 

Tent-escape     203.    21 « 

Tool-basket    7»^ 

Top-bars,    Thick    39.    138 

Total    Crop    Rarther    than    Per 

Colony     36 

T    Super    39 

Uniting    Nuclei     297 

Unqueening    Colonies    to    Start 
Queen-Cells      238 

Value   of   Pure  Air    318 

Veneering      281 

Ventilation    and   Room   to    Pre- 
vent   Swarming     173.    197 

Ventilation    of    Cellar    309 

Warm    Spells    in    Wintering..  309 

Watering-crock     109 

Wax-extractor,      Dripping-pan.  323 

Wax-Extractor,     Solar     323 

Wax-press,    Steani    ...  324 

Weak     Colonies    in     Spring...  Ill 

Weighing    Colonies     295 

Wide    Frames     33 

Wintering,    Disastrous     25 

Wintering,     Unfavorable     Con- 
ditions        316 

Wintering   Upside    Down    ....  18 

Winter   Work    324 

Working  for  Improvement.  ...  87 

Young    Queens    and    Swarming   175 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Alfalfa     152 

Balled    Queen     95 

Bee-dress      243 

Bees   Playing:    241 

Bee  Working  on  Red  Clover.  .  212 
Bottom-board    and    False    Bot 

torn     40 

Brood    of    Laying    "Workers...  184 

Busy    at    the    Typewriter 32  5 

Caged    Queen-cell     2  73 

Carrying   with   Rope 31 

Catching    the    Queen fiS 

Catnip      163 

Caught     71 

Cleated    Smoker     237 

Clipping    the    Queen     77 

Coggshall    Brush    Nft 

Colonies    Home    from    Out-api- 
aries        303 

Colonies  Intended  for  Out-api- 
aries       36 

Colony   Treated   for    Swarming  204 

Colossal    Ladino    Clover     154 

Comb    for    Queen-cells     2  57 

Comb  for  Queen-cells  Trimmed  26  4 
Comb     Resting     Diagonallv     in 

Hive      ".  .  .  .  114 

Combs   of   Brood    106 

Combs    of    Honey     1 02 

Crock-and-Plate  "Feeder 140 

Cutting    Founda-tion     18S 

Dripping-pan    Wa.x-extractor .  .  305 

Emptying    Out    Slumgum 312 

Entrance-block    -14 

Entrance-closers     54 

Feeder  Sections    281 

Field  of   Raspberries  in   Bloom  146 

Folding    Sections    180 

Foundation    with     Splint     Sup- 
ports      98 

German    Steam    Wax-press....  307 

Heartsease     174 

Heddon   Slat    Honey-board.  ...  25 

Heddon    Super    19 

Hive   Closed   for  Hauling    ....  219 

Hive-dummy    137 

Hive-seat    with    Hand-hole....  64 

Hive-seat    with    Strap-handle..  60 

Hive-stand     124 

Hive-staples    38 


Home    from    the    Out-apiary.  .  .  81 

Home    of    the    Author....*....  11 

Honey-show     299 

Improved    Miller    Queen-cages.  272 

Jumbo    Hive     205 

Lifting   Off    the    Super    233 

Linden   or   Basswood   Blossoms  157 

Little    Work-table    190 

Load    of    Forty   Supers 200 

Miller   Cages    254,  1'72 

Miller    Feeder    Dissected     .  .  .  .'  134 

Miller  Frame    277 

Miller    Queen-nursery    259 

^"^iller     Tent-escape  ' 221 

^lovable     Shade    ". 182 

Muench    Hive-tool     65 

Xail-boxes     315 

Xucleus    Bottom-board     267 

Xucleus-hives     269 

One-cent   Queen-cage 202 

Original    Miller    Feeder     126 

Painted    Tin    Hive-covers 118 

Part   of  Home-apiary    (from 

Xorthwest)      108 

Part    of    Home-apiary    (from 

Southwest)      .  .  .  .' 112 

Peabody    Honey-extractor     ...  13 

Pile    of    Stories"    207 

Philo    Carrying    a    Hive 34 

Pounding    Bees    Off    Comb....  84 

Push-board     227 

Pushing  Sections  Out  of  Super  231 

Putting  Foundation  in  Sections  252 

Queen-cell   Stapled  on   Comb..  24  7 

Queen-excluder     177 

Rack   for   Haailing   Bees 50 

Ready    for    Clipping 73 

Record-books     57 

Robber-bees      239 

Robber-cloth      225 

Row    of    Lindens    in    Bloom...  159 

Scraping   Sections    287 

Second-class     Sections     291 

Sections    Ready    for    Casing.  .  289 

Sections   Wedged   for   Scraping  285 

Set     of    Honev-dishes 6 

Shop      ". 216 

Starters     in     Breeding-frame..  249 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Super-filler     194 

Supers  of  Sections  Blocked  Up  235 

Swarm    Dumped   Before    Hive.  210 

Sweet  Clover    148 

Three    Asters     171 

Tool-basket      93 

Top    and   Bottom-starter   in 

Section      186 

T    Super    21 

Twelve-section     Shipping-case.  295 
Twenty -four-section    Shipping- 
case      298 

Two    Asters    169 


Two    Carrying    with    Rope....  26 

Unmarketable    Sections     283 

Vacated    Queen-cells    275 

Vase   of   Goldenrod 165 

Wagon-load   of  Bees    47 

Watering-crock      142 

Weed    Brushes     87 

Weighing    Colonies     301 

Wheeling   Load   of   Supers....  223 

Wide    Frame     17 

Woman's    Bee-dress     2  45 

Zinc    Hive-covers     120 


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of   the   subject   constantly  by   his   side   for   reference. 

The  new  methods  of  wax-production  are  treated  in  an  exhaustive 
fashion,  and  as  this  subject  is  now  of  more  importance  than 
formerly,    more    space   has   been    devoted    to    it. 

The  new  power-driven  automatic  extractors  are  amply  illus- 
trated and  described.  The  subject  of  diseases  has  received  entirely 
new  treatment  to  keep  pace  with  new  discoveries  of  the  last  few 
year'^.  The  laws  relating  to  bees  have  for  the  first  time  received 
full  treatment.  No  other  bee-book  treats  of  this  very  important 
subject.  The  divisible-brood-chamber  hive  and  the  subject  of 
swarm  control  have  received  special  attention.  Honey,  sugar, 
nectar,  and  glucose,  written  up  by  a  United  States  government 
chemist,  are  carefully  defined  in  accordance  with  the  demands  of 
our  new  pure-food  laws. 

The  authors  have  traveled  thou.sands  of  miles  in  the  United 
States,  with  notebook  and  camera,  and  have  endeavored  to  incor- 
porate in  the  pages  of  this  volume  all  the  latest  and  best  practices 


known  to  the  professional  and  amateur  bee-keepers.  There  is 
scarcely  a  practical  method  or  device  known  to  the  bee-keepers 
of  the  country  that  is  not  here  described.  Besides  the  immense 
amount  of  valuable  material  gathered  through  extensive  travel, 
the  work  has  been  enriched  with  the  choicest  material  that  has 
appeared  in  the  columns  of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  an  illustrated 
semi-monthly   by   the    same   authors. 

Besides  the  matter  relating  to  methods  and  devices,  the  book 
contains  a  complete  dictionary  of  apicultural  terms,  and  a  picture- 
gallery  comprising  a  list  of  the  choicest  illustrations  that  have 
appeared  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  for  the  last  ten  years. 

Prices,  cloth  bound,  $1.50;  full  leather,  $2.50;  half  leather,  $2.25. 
When  sent  by  freight  or  express,  25  cents  less.  The  editions  bound 
in  full  and  half  leather  include  the  bee-models,  with  key,  bound  in. 

FOREIGN  EDITIONS  OF  THE  A  B  C— Carefully  translated 
editions  of  this  complete  cyclopedia  of  bee-keeping  may  now  be 
had  in  the  German  and  F^-ench  languages.  The  German  edition 
(ABC  DER  BIENENZUCHT)  sells  for  $2.00  in  paper  and  $2.50 
in  cloth  binding.  In  French  (A  B  C  de  L'APICULTURE)  may  be 
had  in  cloth  for  $2.  By  freight  or  express  deduct  20  cents  from 
the  above   prices. 

OTHER    PRACTICAL    WORKS    ON     BEES. 

The  books  mentioned  on  this  page  are  all  devoted  to  practical 
bee  culture,  although  a  few  of  them,  as  will  be  noted  by  their 
descriptions,  have  more  or  less  scientific  value.  A  somewhat  care- 
ful reading  of  the  descriptions  below  will  undoubtedly  show  any 
one  just  what  book  will  suit  him  best.  If  several  books  are  to  be 
selected  covering  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  the  following  list  may 
be  helpful  in  deciding  what  you  want:  ABC  and  X  Y  Z  of  Bee 
Culture  (see  preceding  page).  Langstroth  on  the  Honey-bee,  Ad- 
vanced Bee  Culture.  Or  this  list:  How  to  Keep  Bees,  Forty  Years 
Among  the  Bees,  A  Modern  Bee  Farm. 

LANGSTROTH     ON     THE     HONEY-BEE.       By     C.     P.     Dadant. 

The  bee-keeper  who  does  not  like  this  book  is  hard  to  suit.  The 
present  volume  is  termed  the  "Twentieth  Century  Edition,"  and 
contains  a  vast  fund  of  information  on  all  subjects  relating  to  prac- 
tical bee  culture.  It  has  long  been  recognized  as  a  standard  work, 
and  should  be  found  in  the  library  of  every  progressive  bee-keeper. 
It  is  well  illusti^ated.  and  has  575  pages.  I'rice  by  mail,  $1.25;  by 
freight   or   express,    15   cts.   less. 

FORTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES.  By  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller. 
This  is  another  standard  book  of  300  pages  and  100  illustrations, 
written  by  a  specialist  with  an  experience  of  more  than  forty  years. 
The  author  has  read  not  only  all  of  the  literature  on  bees  pub- 
lished in  this  country,  but  much  of  that  published  in  Europe,  and 
is  a  recognized  authority.  Price  by  mail,  $1.00;  by  freight  or 
express,   10  cts.   less. 

MANUAL  OF  THE  APIARY.  By  Prof.  A.  J.  Cook.  This  is  a 
very  complete  treatise  on  bees  and  bee-keeping,  and  is  particularly 
valuable  where  one  is  interested  in  the  anatomy  and  physiology 
of  the  bee,  which  has  been  very  completely  covered  in  this  work. 
It  is  also  valviable  for  its  chapter  on  honey-plants,  or  bee  botany: 
540  pages  with  good  illustrations.  Price  by  mail,  $1.15;  15  cts.  less 
by   freight   or   express. 

DOOLITTLE'S  QU  EEN- REARI  NG.  This  is  practically  the  only 
comprehensive  book  on  queen-rearing  now  in  print.  It  is  looked 
upon  by  many  as  the  foundation  of  modern  methods  of  raising 
queens  wholesale.  Mr.  Doolittle  has  an  entertaining  way  of 
writing  on  bee  subjects  which  enables  his  readers  to  follow  him 
with  pleasure,  even  if  they  never  intend  to  raise  queens  at  all. 
Cloth  bound,  124  pages,  $1.00  postpaid;  by  freight  or  express,  5 
cts.    less. 


QUINBY'S  NEW  BEE-KEEPING.  Bv  L.  C.  Root.  A  modern 
edition  of  that  early  volume  on  bees  entitled  "Quinbv's  Mvsteries,"' 
revised  some  years  ago  by  a  well-known  bee-keeper,  a  son-in-law 
of  the  original  writer.  Mr.  Quinby  was  a  practical  bee-keeper, 
and  greatly  assisted  Mr.  Langstroth  in  laving  the  foundation  of 
American  apiculture.  For  this  reason  it  should  be  read  bv  all 
bee-keepers  who  want  to  know  of  the  early  work  in  bee-keeping. 
Cloth  bound,  270  pages,  by  mail,  $1.00;  bv  freight  or  express,  10 
cts.    less. 

ADVANCED  BEE  CULTURE.  By  W.  Z.  Hutchinson;  Revised 
Edition.  This  is  a  very  unusual  work — we  might  say  indis- 
pensable to  any  one  who  is  thinking  seriously  of  becoming  a 
specialist  in  apiculture.  The  author  himself  has  been  a  special- 
ist and  right  down  to  the  present  time  he  is  in  closest  touch  with 
these  methods:  and  nothing  now  in  print  could  be  of  more  benefit 
to  the  practical  bee-keeper  than  this  book.  It  is  fully  illustrated, 
well  printed,  and  is  sure  to  please.  Price  by  mail,  $1.00;  10  cts. 
less    by    freight    or    express. 

HOW  TO  KEEP  BEES.  By  Anna  Botsford  Comstock.  This 
is  a  charmingh-  written  manual  for  amateurs,  describing  in  the 
clearest  language  all  necessary  details.  The  authoress  combines 
enthusiasm,  literary  ability,  and  a  knowledge  of  bee-keeping  into 
a  goodly  volume.  Having  herself  made  a  start  in  the  bee-busi- 
ress,  she  fully  appreciates  the  perplexities  of  the  situation  and 
makes  provision  accordingly.  The  book  is  well  suited  to  the 
.vants  of  the  suburbanite  who  wishes  a  hobby  which  will  give 
somethirg  by  way  of  return  for  labor  and  capital  expended,  or 
those  who  wish  to  keep  only  a  small  apiary  either  for  pleasure  or 
profit.  If  there  is  any  better  book  than  this  for  the  purpose  in- 
dicated, we  do  not  know  of  It.  Cloth  bound,  228  pages,  $1.00 
postpaid;   by  freight  or  express,   10  cts.   less. 

BIGGLE  BEE- BOOK.  This  is  a  very  neat  cloth-bound  book, 
well  printed  and  illustrated.  It  is  5^4  by  4  inches,  by  %  inch 
thick — just  right  to  carry  in  the  pocket,  it  is  just  the  thing  for 
the  busy  man  who  would  like  to  get  a  birdseye  view  of  bee- 
keeping, and  who  has  not  the  time  to  read  the  more  comprehen- 
sive works.  The  book  is  boiled  down,  containing  only  the  best 
practices  known.  Price  by  mail,  .50  cts.;  .5  cts.  less  if  sent  by 
freight    or    express. 

A  MODERN  BEE- FARM.  By  Simmins.  is  one  of  those  books 
which  will  cause  you  to  sit  up  and  take  notice  if  you  are  a  real 
live  bee-keeper  with  lots  of  formic  acid  in  your  blood.  The 
author  is  an  English  bee-keeper  of  note,  who  not  only  knows  and 
understands  bee  culture  in  his  own  home  land,  but  is  as  well  an 
earnest  student  of  American  apicultural  methods.  He  is  not  very 
orthodox  in  his  views,  but  his  book  is  all  the  better  for  that,  see- 
ing he  wants  to  take  us  cut  of  the  ruts.  You  can  read  the  book 
right  straight  through  as  it  runs  along  like  a  narrative  or  a  novel. 
Cloth  bound,  4.30  pages,  1904;  price  $2.00  postpaid;  by  freight  or 
express.    1.5   cts.    less. 

BRITISH  BEE-KEEPERS'  GUIDE  BOOK.  By  T.  W.  Cowan. 
This  is  the  leading  English  work  on  practical  bee-keeping  in  Eng- 
land, and  as  such  has  had  an  immense  sale.  The  work  is  con- 
densed into  179  pages,  handsomely  bound  and  well  illustrated. 
Price   $1.00   by  mail;   by   freight  or   express,    5   cts.   less. 

THE  IRISH  BEE-GUIDE.  By  Digges,  is,  as  its  name  implies, 
a  guide  to  the  bee-keeping  industry  of  Ireland.  This  is  a  closely 
printed,  well-bound  book  of  220  pages  with  excellent  illustrations 
on  fine  paper.  It  would  be  useful  to  any  one  who  wishes  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  status  of  bee-keeping  in  the  old  land. 
Price  $1.00  postpaid;   by  freight  or  express,   5  cts.   less. 

THE  HONEY  BEE.  By  T.  W.  Cowan.  A  complete  scientific 
treatise     on     the     honey     bee.     its     natural     history,     anatomy    and 


physiology,  by  one  of  the  foremost  writers  on  apiculture.  More 
than  200  pages — nearly  150  illustrations.  Bound  in  substantial 
cloth.    $1.00    postpaid. 

WAX- CRAFT.  By  Thomas  William  Cowan.  No  bee-keeper 
of  any  pretensions  can  afford  to  be  without  one  book  on  bees- 
wax. 'This  is  the  only  book  on  the  subject  in  English.  Price  by 
mail,    $1.00;    by   freight   or   express,    5   cts.    less. 

These  books  may  be  obtained  from  the  publisliers  of  this 
volume  or  from  dealers  in  bee-keepers'  supplies  everywhere. 

POPULAR    WORKS    ON    BEE    CULTURE. 

The  following  books  are  for  the  most  part  by  writers  of  well- 
known  literary  ability,  and  are  very  interesting  indeed,  and  are 
greatly  valued  by  bee-keepers  and  others  for  their  literary  merit, 
and  the  popular  style  in  which  bee-keeping  is  depicted,  and  we  are 
very  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  to  offer  them  to  bee-keepers  and 
others.  The  description  of  each  work  will  give  a  fair  idea  rf  the 
same,  but  a  pamphlet  giving  an  extended  view  of  these  and  the 
practical  books  on  bee  culture  listed  in  the  preceding  columns 
will  be  sent  on  application. 

THE  CHILDREN'S  STORY  OF  THE  BEE.  By  S.  L.  Ben- 
susan,  London.  This  volume  was  written  for  children,  and  the 
author  endeavors  to  tell  the  story  of  the  bee  before  a  youthful 
audience  as  completely  as  possible  under  the  circumstances.  It 
traces  the  life  of  the  drones,  queen  and  worker  from  the  egg  to  the 
final  destiny  of  each,  telling  the  story  of  each  in  a  semi-fanciful, 
entertaining  way.  At  the  same  time,  the  bool<;  gives  a  very  clear 
idea  of  its  life,  and  will  appeal  strongly  to  all  who  know  but  little 
about  these  interesting  insects.  It  has  250  pages.  Price  $2.00;  10 
cts.   less  by  freight  or  express. 

THE  HONEY- MAKERS.  Ev  Miss  Margaret  W.  Morley.  This 
is  the  story  of  the  life  of  the  bee,  told  in  very  interesting  stvle — 
how  it  lives,  gathers  honey,  and  all  about  it.  While  clothing  the 
general  subject  with  an  air  of  poetry,  it  seems  to  be  entirely  within 
the  limits  of  known  facts  while  attempting  to  deal  with  them. 
We  believe  it  will  give  all  thoughtful  bee-keepers  a  greater  liking 
for  their  business  to  read  it.  Probably  it  has  more  to  do  with  the 
curious  traditions  connected  with  bees  than  any  other  book  of  the 
kind.      Price    $1.50    postpaid. 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  BEE.  By  Maeterlinck.  This  is  a  master- 
piece of  fine  writing  by  a  modern  Shakespeare.  The  words  fly 
from  the  pen  of  this  v.riter  like  sparks  from  a  blacksmith's  anvil, 
the  result  being  a  glorification  of  the  honey-bee.  Maeterlinck  is 
considered  by  many  to  be  the  finest  writer  now  living,  and  any- 
thing from  him  is  sure  to  be  worth  reading.  He  is,  to  a  certain 
extent,  familiar  with  bee-keeping,  but  the  truth  about  bees  does 
not  interest  him  so  much  as  the  romance  of  the  queen  and  the 
drone  and  the  swarming  instinct.  The  book  itself  is  well  bound 
and    beautifully   printed.      Price   $1.40   postpaid. 

THE  BEE  PEOPLE,  A  book  on  bees,  especially  for  children, 
from  the  pen  of  ^Margaret  W.  Morlev.  Including  its  elegant  illus- 
trations, it  is  in  some  respects,  the  prettiest  bee-book  in  existence. 
It  has  177  pages,  very  coarse  print,  the  reading  being  ingeniously 
interwoven  with  the  illustrations  showing  the  parts  of  the  bee.  The 
story  of  bee-life  is  told  in  a  fascinating  marner,  and  is  well  cal- 
culated to  get  the  casual  reader,  as  well  as  children,  interested  in 
this  useful  insect.  The  cuts  go  just  enough  into  detail  to  explain 
fully  the  lesson  taught,  without  confusing  the  mind  with  other 
things.  We  think  the  book  well  worthy  a  place  in  every  bee- 
keeper's  home.     Fittingly  designed   cover.     Price   $1.50  postpaid. 

THE  LORE  OF  THE  HONEY-BEE.  By  Tickner  Edwards.  A 
fine  work  for  those  who  desire  an  interesting  book  about  bees. 
Does  not  deal  with  practical  details,  but  gives  valviable  informa- 
tion about  bees  in  general.  Verv  readable  and  entertaining.  Price 
$2.00    postpaid. 


THE     GLEANINGS     LIBRARY. 

So  called  because  of  great  popularity  of  the  following  books 
when    offered    in    combination    with    Gleanings    in    Bee    Culture. 

ALEXANDER'S   WRITINGS   ON    PRACTICAL    BEE    CULTURE. 

By  the  late  E.  W.  Alexander,  who  conducted  the  largest  apiary  in 
the  United  States.  A  wonderfully  interesting  discussion  of  bee- 
keeping in  its  broadest  phases.  Any  one  can  understand  it.  35 
chapters,   95    pages.      Paper   bound,    50   cts.   postpaid. 

A  YEAR'S  WORK  IN  AN  OUT-APIARY.  By  G.  M.  Doolittle. 
Packed  full  of  most  valuable  information  ever  given  to  bee- 
keepers. A  practical  and  interesting  book  by  a  very  successful 
apiarist.  Sale  has  reached  nearly  5,000  copies.  60  pages,  paper 
bound,  50  cts.  postpaid. 

THE  TOWNSEND  BEE  BOOK.  By  E.  D.  Townsend.  AVritten 
by  one  of  the  most  progressive,  successful  and  extensive  bee- 
keepers in  the  U.  S.,  this  new  book  has  been  in  great  demand  from 
the  day  of  its  announcement.  Tells  how  to  make  a  start  with 
bees,  and  will  ■  greatly  benefit  beginners  and  experienced  bee- 
keepers.     90   pages,    paper  bound,    50   cts.    postpaid. 

In  Combination  With  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  for  One  Year 
either  of  the  above  Books  may  be  had  for  the  price  of  Gleanings 
alone,  $1.00.  Foreign  postage  60  cts.  extra.  Canadian  postage  30 
cts.    extra. 

THE     BEE-KEEPERS'     TEN-CENT     LIBRARY. 

The  following  books  are  neatly  bound  in  paper,  well  illustrated. 
.Just  the  thing  for  beginners  to  help  them  with  their  troubles. 
Price   10  cts.   each  postpaid. 

No.   1.      BEE-KEEPERS'    DICTIONARY.     It  helps  a  beginner  or 

one   who    is   not   acquainted    with    the    literature    of   bee-keeping  to 

understand  the  different  terms  used  by  writers  on  the  subject.  A 
reference  work  giving  clear  definitions  of  current  terms. 

No.  5.  TRANSFERRING  BEES.  Practical  methods  of  trans- 
ferring  from   boxes   to    modern   hives. 

Xo.  11.  WINTERING  BEES.  The  problems  of  wintering  bees 
in    different  localities  and    suggestions   for   their   solution. 

No.  16.  MODERN  QU  EEN- REARI NG.  Detailing  the  latest 
methods,  by  leading  breeders,  embracing  the  best  of  several  sys- 
tems 

No.  17.  HABITS  OF  THE  HONEY-BEE.  A  condensed  account 
of  the   life  and   habits  of  the   bee   in   simple   language. 

No.  21.  FACTS  ABOUT  BEES.  Just  what  its  name  indicates. 
A  very  popular  booklet  of  60  pages  containing  a  complete  descrip- 
tion of  the  Danzenbaker  hive,  and  instructions  for  its  management. 

No.  29.  MOVING  AND  SHIPPING  BEES.  Full  of  helpful  sug- 
gestions  on   a    subject    in    which    many    bee-keepers   are   interested. 

No.     30.      THE      BEE-KEEPER     AND     THE      FRUIT-GROWER. 

Why  and    how   their   interests  are   mutual. 

These  books  may  be  obtained  from  the  publishers  of  this 
volume  or  from  dealers  in  bee-keepers"  supplies  everywhere. 


CKMAN 

DERY  INC. 


^  APR  84 

"W      N.  MANCHESTER,     I 
0^         INDIANA  46962     J 


